Hemant Soren, the chief minister of Jharkhand, has received a summons from the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in connection with a case involving money laundering, agency sources revealed on Saturday.
On August 24, the ED requested that Jharkhand’s chief minister, Soren, join its probe into an alleged money laundering case.
Soren was called by the ED earlier on August 14 in relation to a purported land scam investigation. However, Soren declined to participate in the investigation by the central agency, claiming he was preoccupied with planning the state’s Independence Day celebrations.
“Your choice of the date of 14th August does not come as a surprise to the undersigned (Hemant Soren). You and your political masters are fully aware that being the Chief Minister of the state of Jharkhand, the undersigned is scheduled to hoist the national flag on the occasion of the 77th independence day of the Republic of India on 15th August 2023,” Soren wrote in his letter.
“Preparations for the Independence Day function start from a week before and 14th August is an important day for the same when many meetings are pre-scheduled. The caption summons requiring the undersigned to appear before you on 14 August 2023, is deliberate and part of the design to besmirch the reputation not only of the undersigned but also the democratically elected government of the state of Jharkhand and the people of the state of Jharkhand,” the chief minister said.
HE further stated that the central agencies were targeting him because he is not aligning with the central government.
The chief minister has also mentioned that he has provided the details of his movable and immovable assets to CBI in an enquiry directed by Lokpal against his father Shibu Soren in 2020. ED may obtain the details from CBI.
