Ranchi/New Delhi: Ending suspense over his whereabouts, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday reached his official residence in Ranchi and chaired meetings of his alliance MLAs, ahead of his scheduled questioning by the ED in a money laundering case.
A day after the ED team visited the JMM executive president's Delhi home with the intent to question him and agency officials claimed that he was "untraceable", sources close to Soren said that the 48-year-old Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader came by road from Delhi, undertaking a more than 1250 km journey.
"I reside in your hearts," he told reporters in Ranchi after paying tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on his death anniversary. He was replying to a query regarding his absence.
.jpg.transform/170x160/image.jpg "Hemant Soren arrested after his resignation as J'khand chief minister")
"We all are committed to following the footsteps and ideologies of the Father of the Nation. We are proud that such people were born among us and guided us," he added.
Soren held two rounds of meetings of alliance legislators at the CM House to discuss the present political situation in the state. In photographs and videos shared by Soren's office on X, MLAs and ministers were seen greeting the chief minister before taking part in the meeting.
Kalpana Soren likely to take over
Soren's wife Kalpana Soren, who is not a legislator, was also present at the meeting. The lawmakers expressed solidarity with the Hemant Soren government at the meetings. They also signed a letter of support without any name as speculations are rife that the chief minister's wife Kalpana Soren will be handed over the reins in the event of his arrest.
"We are ready for what may come... The BJP is abusing central agencies to destabilise a democratically elected government but we will not allow them to succeed in their mission," Transport Minister and senior JMM leader Champai Soren told PTI.
Earlier in the day, state governor CP Radhakrishnan, who has repeatedly expressed displeasure over the "deteriorating law and order" in the state, called Chief Secretary Lalbiaktluanga Khiangte, and Director General of Police Ajay Kumar Singh at the Raj Bhavan to take stock of the situation.
After the meeting, the DGP said that elaborate security arrangements have been made across the state to maintain law and order, including the deployment of an additional 7,000 policemen.
Prohibitory orders were imposed in key areas of Ranchi, including near the CM House, the Raj Bhavan and the ED office at Doranda, from 10 am to 10 pm, officials said.
Soren's Delhi visit
Soren, also the executive president of the ruling JMM, had left for the national capital on January 27 night and his scheduled government programme in the state was cancelled without any explanation. In an email to the probe agency on Sunday, Soren alleged that the ED's actions were "motivated by political agenda" to disrupt the state government's functioning and claimed that its insistence to record his statement again on or before January 31 "reeked of malice".
The federal agency questioned Soren on January 20, and later issued a fresh summons, asking him to confirm his availability for questioning on either January 29 or January 31.
The Enforcement Directorate will question Soren on Wednesday in Ranchi in a money laundering case probe linked to an alleged land scam. The official sources have said that they have seized Rs 36 lakh, a BMW SUV and some "incriminating" documents during the search operations at his house in the national capital on Monday.
Meanwhile, JMM and the BJP leaders engaged in a verbal duel with the opposition party in the state claiming that Soren was "missing" for several hours after going to Delhi and the Congress and JMM alleging that the saffron camp was spreading rumours about Soren.
The JMM said it will file a case against state BJP chief Babulal Marandi for allegedly defaming the Chief Minister by his comment on the JMM leader's "absence" in the state capital Ranchi.
