ED issues fresh summons to Jharkhand CM for questioning in money-laundering case

Ranchi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a fresh summons to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren for questioning in a money-laundering case linked to an alleged land scam on Tuesday, official sources said. Soren, 48, has been asked to depose at the federal agency's regional office in the Hinoo area here and get his statement recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said on Monday.

The summons for the chief minister is for December 12, the sources said.

This is the sixth notice issued to Soren, but he never deposed as he filed a petition before the Supreme Court and later the Jharkhand High Court seeking protection from the ED action and terming the summons as "unwarranted". Both the courts had dismissed his petition.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader had claimed in the high court that the summons were issued against him out of "malice" and false allegations were levelled against him with the sole motive to create political uncertainty and unrest in the state.

The ED issued its first summons to him for August 14.

The probe pertains to the ED alleging that a "huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by mafia was going on in Jharkhand".

The agency has arrested 14 people in the case, including 2011-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Chhavi Ranjan who had earlier served as the director of the state social welfare department and deputy commissioner of Ranchi.

Soren was questioned by the ED in November last year in another money-laundering case linked to alleged illegal mining in the state.