Soren asks ED to record his statement in land case in his office

Ranchi, Jan 16 (PTI) Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that it can record his statement at his secretariat on January 20 in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.

The ED had on January 13 sent a letter to the chief minister, asking him to be available for questioning in the case between January 16 and January 20, sources said on Monday night.

The ED sent the letter after Soren skipped seven summons of the agency in connection with the case.

A person from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) on Monday submitted Soren's reply to the letter to the ED's office in Ranchi, informing that he would be available to record his statement in the case on January 20, the sources said.

The investigation pertains to a "huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia" in Jharkhand, according to the ED.

The agency has so far arrested 14 people in the case, including 2011-batch IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan who has served as the director of the state Social Welfare Department and deputy commissioner of Ranchi.

Soren, 48, has been asked by the central agency to inform the investigating officer of the case about the date, venue and time of his choice so that his statement can be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Despite several summons issued to Soren, he has never deposed before the ED in connection with the case.

He had filed a petition before the Supreme Court and then the Jharkhand High Court, seeking protection from the ED action and terming the summons "unwarranted".

Both the courts had dismissed his petition.

State Congress working president Bandhu Tirkey said the tribal community was angry with the way a tribal CM was being targeted by the central agency.

"In every 12 years, the tribal community goes hunting. If they become angry, they don't see ED or CBI," he told reporters. PTI