ED arrests JMM President Hemant Soren in land scam; Champai Soren will be new CM

Earlier in the day, Soren had lodged an FIR against senior Enforcement Directorate personnel at the SC/ST police station here over searches conducted by the agency at his Delhi residence, officials said on Wednesday.

Soren alleged that the ED conducted the search operation at his residence in the national capital to “harass and malign him and his entire community”, the officials said, quoting the FIR.

JMM heads a coalition government in the state, including Congress. The decision on a new CM was taken by JMM MLAs in a meeting, after which they went to the Raj Bhavan to apprise Governor CP Radhakrishnan of their decision.

“We have chosen Champai Soren as the leader of the Legislative Party. We came to the Raj Bhawan to request the Governor for the oath ceremony,” JMM leader and state minister Banna Gupta told reporters.

In the wake of ED’s action against Hemant Soren, a large number of police personnel were deployed around the Chief Minister’s residence in Ranchi on Wednesday. Section 144 was imposed within a radius of 100 metres outside the CM house, Governor house, and the ED office to deal with any untoward situation because of protests, rallies and processions by the ruling party workers.

The JMM workers had earlier gathered at Morabadi ground against the ED’s action and raised slogans against the central government.

The ED officials had reached out to Soren at his Delhi residence for interrogation on Monday. The law enforcement agency also seized two cars and ₹36 lakh but did not find the JMM leader.

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Published: 31 Jan 2024, 08:55 PM IST