ED Quizzes Hooda, Lalu, Finds Soren Missing
In the morning, the Central agency interrogated Hooda over alleged irregularities in land acquisition at Manesar during 2004-07, with the alleged connivance of senior government functionaries and bureaucrats, for over six hours. He had appeared before the ED on January 17 and recorded his statement in this case.
A day after the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the largest constituent in the Mahagathbandhan, lost power in Bihar, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav was questioned by the ED in the land-for-jobs case for more than nine hours. The 75-year-old leader reached the central agency's office at around 11 am and was relieved around 8.30 pm.
Rajya Sabha MP and his daughter, Misha Bharti, who is also a co-accused in the case, accompanied the leader to the office, where a large number of RJD workers gathered, protesting outside the office and shouting slogans against the Central government.
On January 19, the Central agency had issued a fresh summons to Lalu Yadav and his son Tejashwi Yadav. The notice was physically handed over at Lalu Yadav's wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi’s residence in Patna. The summons asked both RJD leaders to appear before it on January 29 and 30. Tejashwi Yadav is likely to appear before the agency on January 30 at the Patna office, according to sources.
Responding to the summons, Bharti said, "This greeting card is being sent to those who are not coming with them. Whenever any agency calls our family, we go there and cooperate with them and answer their questions."
"Whenever any agency calls our family members for questioning, we go there, cooperate with them and answer all their queries. Because of his health condition, it is difficult for him (Lalu Prasad) to move on his own. Someone has to accompany him whenever he goes somewhere," Bharti further said.
"Everyone knows about the health condition of my father; he can't even walk without support. Despite that, ED officials did not allow any assistant to enter their office and accompany him. It's inhuman behaviour by ED officials...shame on you (ED officials) and your boss (top ED officials)," another daughter of Lalu Yadav, Rohini Acharya, wrote on X in Hindi.
"This is not an ED summon but a BJP summon... This will go on till 2024. Till then, please do not call it ED summons. Why should we be scared?" RJD MP Manoj Jha said.
In Delhi, early morning on January 29, an ED team visited the residence of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren to question him in connection with a money laundering investigation in an alleged land fraud case. Official sources claimed he was "missing" and could not be contacted by the agency.
Meanwhile, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren, who had left for Delhi from Ranchi on January 27 night, sent an email to the agency, agreeing to a fresh round of questioning by ED investigators on January 31 at his Ranchi residence around 1 pm.
The ED officials, accompanied by Delhi Police personnel, reached the Shanti Niketan building in South Delhi around 9 am and stayed there till late evening, while several media teams stood outside.
"We came to the residence of the chief minister to question him, but he is not here. The ED teams also went to the Jharkhand Bhawan and a few other locations but could not find the chief minister," a source in the agency said.
The ED teams will be at the residence until Soren returns, the sources said, adding that authorities are also keeping a vigil at the Delhi airport.
The ED had questioned Soren at his official residence in Ranchi on January 20 in the alleged land fraud case and had issued a fresh summons to him, asking him to confirm his availability for questioning on either January 29 or January 31, the sources said. He had sent a communication to the Enforcement Directorate for further questioning but had not confirmed the date and time for questioning, according to the sources.
While the Chief Minister's office was tight-lipped on the development, Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan said he was keeping a watch on the situation in the state in the wake of the ED summons to the CM.
"I am keeping a watch on the overall situation as the custodian of the Constitution.