UditVani, Ranchi: Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren did not appear before the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) office on Thursday.
Soren will be attending the closing ceremony of the National Tribal Dance Festival and Rajyotsava in Chhattisgarh today.
He was summoned by the ED at their Ranchi office in connection with the Prevention of Money Laundering case pertaining to illegal mining and extortion.
The chief minister is said to be taking legal opinion on the summon and will act accordingly.
Hemant Soren will likely be questioned about the activities related to the illegal mining and its large-scale transportation allegedly in association with his political aide Pankaj Mishra, who was arrested in July in connection with the case.
ED had also arrested Bachhu Yadav and Prem Prakash. The accused are said to be close to Soren and are presently in judicial custody.
Investigations revealed that Mishra, a representative of the Chief Minister, controls the illegal mining businesses as well as inland ferry services in Sahebganj and its adjoining areas through his accomplices.
Mishra exercises control over the mining of stone chips and boulders as well as operations of several crushers, set up across various mining sites in Sahebganj. Proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 42 crore acquired by Mishra have been identified till date.
ED had conducted 47 searches throughout the country on several dates. Investigation resulted in the seizure of cash amounting to Rs 5.34 crore, freezing of bank balances amounting to Rs 13.32 crore, freezing of an inland vessel MV Infralink -III, registration No. WB 1809, five stone crushers, two Hyva trucks besides the seizure of incriminating documents along with two AK 47 Assault Rifles.
As per schedule released by the CM Office, Hemant Soren is to attend various programs at Palamu, Ramgarh, Bokaro, Jamshedpur and Pakur between November 4th-9th. A cabinet meeting will be held on November 10th (Thursday) and a special session of the assembly on November 11th. In this session, the government will present a bill fixing 1932 as the base year to decide one’s domicile status in the state.
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