Former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren arrested by ED in land scam case

JMM President Hemant Soren was arrested by the officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday in the land scam case. The arrest came after 7 hours of questioning at his residence in Ranchi, after which Hemant Soren decided to go to Raj Bhawan and resigned from his position as chief minister of Jharkhand.

Meanwhile, the MLAs of the ruling JMM-Congress coalition also reached the Governor's house and declared senior JMM leader Champai Soren as the choice for the next chief minister of Jharkhand.

“Hemant Soren has resigned from the post of CM...We have the support of 47 MLAs...We have proposed to form a new government. Champai Soren will be our new CM...We have not been given time for swearing in..." Jharkhand MLA Alamgir Alam said.

The resignation of chief minister and his subsequent arrest came after some high-voltage drama as earlier ED was supposed to question Hemant Soren in Delhi, but fearing his imminent arrest, the JMM leader decided to take a 1,200 km road trip to Ranchi. 

At around 1:00PM on Wednesday, the ED reached the residence of Hemant Soren in Ranchi for questioning in the land scam case. Ahead of the questioning the federal agency, the JMM leader chaired the meeting of the MLAs of ruling coalition, which intensified the speculations of his arrest. 

After 7 hours of questioning, two mini-buses of JMM-Congress MLA reached Raj Bhawan, followed by Hemant Soren with the team of Enforcement Directorate. The JMM leader tendered his resignation to the Jharkhand Governor, while the JMM-Congress coalition declared Champai Soren as the next chief minister. 

More to come…