Hemant Soren involved in other 2 cases, alleges BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad

Ravi Shankar Prasad. File Pic

BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday alleged that former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate a day ago in an alleged land scam case, is also "involved" in the other two cases. At a press conference in Delhi, Prasad said, "Out of three cases, he (Hemant Soren) has been produced (before court) in one case. While in other cases, the agencies will... Rs 36 lakh have been recovered from his house".

Referring to Enforcement Directorate searches at the Shanti-Niketen residence of the JMM leader in South Delhi on Wednesday, the BJP leader said, "His residence in Delhi is very beautiful. Shanti-Nkiten is a posh colony. A BMW has also been recovered. Fill your coffers. But earn legally," he said, taking a dig at Hemant Soren. He was responding to the arrest of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren by the Enforcement Directorate amid high drama on Wednesday night.

He has been facing questioning from the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. The BJP leader alleged that Soren is also involved in an Army land 'scam' case. "The army had land in Morabadi, Ranchi... A fake owner, Pradeep Bagchi, sold it to Jagatbandhu Tea Estate... When ED started the investigation, it was known that a gang was operative in Ranchi that took ownership of land using fake documents... IAS officers were also involved in this..." he alleged.

"All of these were protected by the Chief Minister, referring to Hemant Soren who was then CM ...," the former Union Minister alleged. Meanwhile, Hemant Soren, who has filed the petition through advocate Pragya Baghel, has sought urgent hearing of his petition. After Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Soren, mentioned the plea before the Supreme Court on Thursday morning, the top court agreed to list it on Friday, February 2.

"The Enforcement Directorate is brazenly acting under the dictates of the Central Government and hounding the petitioner to destabilise a democratically elected government headed by the petitioner, who is the Chief Minister of the State of Jharkhand," Hemant Soren said in the petition.

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