New Delhi (The Hawk): The Enforcement Directorate called Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren for questioning on November 3 in a money laundering case related to alleged illegal mining in the state on Wednesday, November 2.
Soren has been summoned to appear before the federal investigation agency at its regional headquarters in Ranchi, the state capital, at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
In this instance, the ED had previously detained his political aide Pankaj Mishra and two others - local muscleman Bachhu Yadav and Prem Prakash.
The agency claims to have "discovered" criminal revenues from unlawful mining in the state totaling more than Rs 1,000 crore.
The summons from the ED came only months after it was revealed that the Election Commission of India had recommended that the chief minister be disqualified as an MLA in an office-of-profit case.
Soren had called governor Ramesh Bais and requested him to resolve the confusion after weeks of conjecture but no formal communication from the EC. Soren stated that the opposition Bhartiya Janata Party was exploiting the uncertainty to destabilise a democratically elected government by attempting to poach MLAs.
The EC has yet to provide an explanation or its ostensible recommendation note.
On July 8, the ED raided Mishra and his accused associates in Sahibganj, Barhait, Rajmahal, Mirza Chauki, and Barharwa in Jharkhand, encompassing 19 locations in the case relating to alleged incidents of illicit mining and extortion.
"The PMLA probe indicated that Mishra, who has political power as the chief minister's representative, MLA from Barhait, Sahibganj, Jharkhand, controls illicit mining operations as well as inland ferry services in Sahibganj and its surrounding areas through his associates."
"He exercises extensive control over the mining of stone chips and boulders, as well as the installation and operation of multiple crushers, put up across various mining sites in Sahibganj," the ED claimed in a charge sheet filed in the case before a Ranchi special court.
The ED claims that 47 search operations were carried out, that cash worth Rs 5.34 crore was seized, bank balances worth Rs 13.32 crore were frozen, and that an inland water vessel worth Rs 30 crore was seized, along with five stone crushers, two trucks, and two AK 47 assault rifles, which were later claimed by Jharkhand police as their own.
According to the news agency PTI, anonymous officials stated that several banking documents and cheques bearing the chief minister's name were "recovered" from the raided facilities.
The step was taken after the ED filed a complaint against Mishra and others under the PMLA in March, saying that the former "illegally seized or amassed large assets in his favour."
It took cognizance of a state police FIR filed against Mishra at the Barharwa police station in the Sahibganj district, as well as some other police complaints made in the illicit mining trade cases under various sections of the Arms Act and the Explosive Substances Act, among others.
The ED action against suspended Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Pooja Singhal in May was the second time cash tied to alleged unlawful mining in the state was discovered.
Apart from the IAS officer from the 2000 batch, the ED investigated the homes of her businessman husband, a chartered accountant associated to the pair, and others as part of a money laundering investigation tied to an alleged corruption case in the MGNREGA scheme.
(Inputs from Agencies)
