Jharkhand CM skips ED summons, dares agency to arrest him

Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren skipped the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons on on Thursday (November 3), to avoid being questioned regarding a case of alleged illegal mining. Instead, he is going to attend a tribal programme in Chhattisgarh and threw a challenge to the ED to arrest him if he had committed a crime.

Soren was supposed to appear for questioning at the ED regional office in Ranchi at 11 am but he did not turn up.

Addressing Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) workers near his residence, Soren said, “The ED has summoned me following a conspiracy. Come and arrest me if I have committed a crime instead of sending a summons for questioning. I am neither afraid nor worried. Rather I am emerging stronger. If people of Jharkhand wish, opponents will not find a place to hide.”

Further, he said that he will fly to Raipur to attend a Tribal Mahotsav during the day, for which he had received an invitation. Also, the JMM executive president alleged that the BJP is trying to destabilise his democratically elected government ever since it was voted to power.