RANCHI: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren did not appear before the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday for questioning in a money-laundering case linked to an alleged illegal mining scam.
Soren was due to appear before the probe agency at its regional office in Ranchi at 11 am. The leaders of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha said that the CM had skipped the summons due to “other important events which were planned earlier”.
Soren challenged the ED and the BJP-led Central government to get him arrested if they could establish his involvement in the scams. He said: “Why use the probe agencies to question me? If you have the courage, get me arrested… If I am guilty, arrest me. Are you scared of the people of Jharkhand?”
Elaborate arrangements had been made by the state police outside the Ranchi ED office for his appearance. The state administration had also stepped up security outside the BJP office after JMM workers threatened to launch a state-wide stir against the ED summons.
JMM leaders who had gathered outside Hemant Soren’s residence said that the Chief Minister would visit Raipur in Chhattisgarh later on Thursday for a pre-scheduled event.
“His schedule is very tight. He is not free for the next 15 days. He will be visiting Chhattisgarh today. Later this month, President Droupadi Murmu is also arriving for our state’s foundation day,” a JMM leader outside the CM’s residence said.
Meanwhile, JMM insiders said, “the Chief Minister is taking legal opinion on the ED summons and will act accordingly.”
While the political heat continued to build in the state due to the ED’s summons, Soren blamed the BJP for misusing Central agencies to destabilise his government in Jharkhand. “They (BJP) think that I will get scared by their designs. The people of this state will give them a fitting reply and wipe them out. They are in panic because the state government is working for the benefit of tribals and backwards in the state,” Soren told JMM workers outside his residence.
He said that he was summoned by the probe agency on a day when he had to attend an event in Chhattisgarh. Taking a dig at the BJP about security being beefed up outside their state headquarters in Ranchi, he said: “It seems that they are scared of the people of Jharkhand. We have not done anything yet. There is no need for Hemant Soren to panic because I know that people of Jharkhand are standing with me”.
Soren said that the state will be ruled by the people of Jharkhand and not outsiders, and in the coming elections, the BJP will be wiped out from the state.
