Following his resignation, Chief Minister Hemant Soren has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Ranchi, and a camp jail has been set up in Dayanand Nagar for his detention. Soren, who is also the head of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), was arrested on Wednesday night following more than seven hours of questioning by the ED in a land scam case. The arrest came shortly after he submitted his resignation to the Governor, paving the way for his loyalist and state Transport Minister Champai Soren to potentially take on the role of Chief Minister, as stated by the ruling alliance.
Speculation had been circulating since around 5.30 pm when two mini-buses were observed entering the CM’s residence. Chief Secretary L Khyangate and DGP Ajay Kumar Singh arrived half an hour later.
This development concludes days of tension between Soren and the investigative agency, ranging from the ED searching his Delhi residence to his party condemning the agency for "maligning" his image.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Jharkhand Police registered an FIR against senior ED officials under the SC/ST Act, based on Soren’s complaint concerning the searches at his residence.
The ED had been issuing summons to Soren in connection with an alleged money laundering case, and he consistently declined to appear before the agency.
He had been questioned thrice before: first in November 2021 in connection with the ED’s illegal mining case, and the second and third summons on January 20 and 31, respectively, related to the alleged proceeds of crime from the illegal sale and purchase of land in Ranchi, where IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan is also implicated.
In his police complaint, Soren alleged that the ED conducted the search operation at his Delhi residence to "harass and malign him and his entire community." Soren stated in his complaint that the ED officials had informed the media of the search to create a spectacle and tarnish his reputation in the eyes of the general public.