Jharkhand: ‘ED tried to spoil by image by raids’, Hemant Soren in video message ahead of arrest in land scam

Hours before the Enforcement Directorate arrested Hemant Soren on Wednesday, the former Jharkhand Chief Minister claimed that the federal agency did not find any evidence against him in the land scam case, but they tried to tarnish his image by conducting raids at his Delhi residence.

In a video message, Soren said, “Most probably ED will arrest me today, but I am not worried as I am Shibu Soren's son...After a full day of questioning, they decided to arrest me in matters which are not related to me. No evidence has been by them found yet.”

“They also tried to spoil my image by conducting raids at my Delhi residence. We have to fight a new fight now against those who commit atrocities against the poor, Adivasis, Dalit and the innocent…,” he added.

JMM President Hemant Soren was arrested by the ED officials on Wednesday in the land scam case. The arrest came after 7 hours of questioning at his residence in Ranchi, after which Hemant Soren decided to go to Raj Bhawan and resigned from his position as chief minister of Jharkhand.

The resignation of the chief minister and his subsequent arrest was followed by some high-voltage drama as earlier ED was supposed to question Hemant Soren in Delhi, but fearing his imminent arrest, the JMM leader decided to take a 1,200 km road trip to Ranchi.

At around 1:00 PM on Wednesday, the ED reached the residence of Hemant Soren in Ranchi for questioning in the land scam case. Ahead of the questioning of the federal agency, the JMM leader chaired the meeting of the MLAs of the ruling coalition, which intensified the speculations of his arrest.

After 7 hours of questioning, two mini-buses of JMM-Congress MLA reached Raj Bhawan, followed by Hemant Soren with the team of the Enforcement Directorate. The JMM leader tendered his resignation to the Jharkhand Governor, while the JMM-Congress coalition declared Champai Soren as the next chief minister.