Chief Minister Hemant Soren has sought three weeks’ time from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to appear before the agency for his questioning in the illegal mining case. The probe agency had summoned Soren and was asked to appear at the zonal office of the agency on Thursday.
The ED has asked Chief Minister Soren to appear before the investigating agency to record his statement on Thursday in Ranchi, however, he did not turn up and sent a time petition to the ED through a messenger.
The ED has not given any response as to when the agency intends to call him in the wake of the request made by him. Though Soren did not appear before the probe agency, he addressed a rally of his party — the JMM — held in front of his official residence on Kanke road. The rally was called to protest the action of the ED against him.
“I was summoned by the ED today when I already have a program in Chhattisgarh. What is my crime? If I've committed that big a crime, come and arrest me. Why call me for questioning?” Soren said at the rally as his supporters cheered.
“I heard that security has been beefed up outside the ED’s office in Ranchi, and the BJP’s office. Why? Are you scared of Jharkhandis?,” he said.
Sources said that Soren has sought three week time as he has a busy schedule. Soren on Thursday left for Raipur where he will attend the tribal dance festival. The Chhattisgarh government on the occasion of state foundation day is celebrating a tribal dance festival. Soren, in fact, is not going to turn up till November 15 owing to various official engagements. He is set to visit Raipur today to attend a tribal dance festival organized at Raipur in Chhattisgarh. He will depart to Raipur at 4 PM.
Apart from participating at tribal dance festival, CM has a busy schedule. On November 11, the state government has called one day special session of assembly while a day ahead (November 10) the state government called a cabinet meeting. The chief minister's presence is important both in cabinet meeting and assembly session.
This is the second such special assembly session the government has called. The last one was called on September 5 when it was widely anticipated that Governor Ramesh Bais would disqualify him as a member of the assembly for possessing a mining lease as a chief minister. That time the assembly had passed the local residence policy and fixed 1932 as the cutoff date.
Meanwhile, heavy deployment of police forces has been made outside the Ranchi zonal office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the wake of a notice issued to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in the illegal mining case.