On Wednesday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) initiated searches at various locations connected to the press advisor of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and other officials, all of whom are implicated in an alleged illegal mining case, according to officials quoted by news agency PTI.
Approximately twelve locations in the state are currently under investigation by the central agency, acting under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The searches include premises belonging to Abhishek Prasad, also known as Pintu, the collector and SP of Sahibganj district, ex-MLA Pappu Yadav, certain jail department officials, and a police constable, as per sources.
The Enforcement Directorate has repeatedly summoned the Jharkhand CM for questioning in connection to the matter. Notably, this development follows the resignation of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MLA Sarfaraz Ahmad from the Assembly, sparking speculations within the state’s political circles. The resignation occurred a day after the ED issued its seventh summons to the Chief Minister.
Responding to the sixth summons on December 12, Soren wrote a letter to the ED, asserting that all his and his family’s assets had been disclosed during the Central Bureau of Investigation’s preliminary inquiry based on a Lokpal complaint. He argued that the repeated summons were part of a political conspiracy to destabilize the democratically elected government.
The ED, however, maintains that the focus is not on the disclosure of personal assets but on investigating assets deemed as proceeds of crime, particularly in the context of a land scam case.
In the ongoing investigation, the ED has arrested 14 individuals, including Chhavi Ranjan, a 2011-batch IAS officer who previously served as the director of the state social welfare department and deputy commissioner of Ranchi. The agency has been probing an alleged trail of Rs 100 crore in proceeds of crime generated from illegal mining operations in Jharkhand since 2022.
