Hemant Soren, the former chief minister of Jharkhand, went to X after being detained by the ED on Wednesday night and declared he would not concede defeat. In his first reaction after the arrest, Soren said, “It’s a break. life is a great battle. I have fought every moment, I will fight every moment. But I will not beg for compromise.”
“I will not give up in vain… I will not accept defeat… Jai Jharkhand!” he added.
Just seconds after he resigned from his position as chief minister of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren was captured by the Enforcement Directorate in Ranchi on Wednesday. Following that, the 48-year-old legislator was brought to the probe agency’s office to assist with their inquiry into a purported land swindle in the state.
Less than 48 hours had passed since the federal agency methodically planned an operation to capture the leader of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in Delhi. Even with teams stationed at both his home and the airport in the nation’s capital, he managed to avoid capture and made his way to Ranchi on Tuesday via road.
“We have evidence that Hemant Soren had grabbed some parcel of land under probe in Jharkhand, which was illegally obtained by others through falsified documents,” an officer of the Enforcement Directorate told news agency.
Hemant Soren’s detention was largely facilitated by Amit Kumar Agarwal, a businessman from Kolkata who was detained by the investigative agency on June 7 of last year. Lawyer Rajeev Kumar filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Jharkhand High Court in 2021, alleging that Agarwal is accused of handling illicit cash involving multiple politicians, including the then chief minister of Jharkhand.
After eluding ED interrogation since August of last year on at least seven occasions, Hemant Soren finally consented to be questioned on January 20 at his Ranchi home. The agency then called him to come in on January 29 or 31. When the ED team arrived at his official residence in the state capital on Wednesday, the JMM leader had just tendered his resignation to the governor. After questioning him for almost seven hours, he was formally arrested at the ED’s Ranchi headquarters.
According to officials, he will appear in court on Thursday, when the agency will clarify the exact allegations brought against him.
