Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a seventh summons to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren below PMLA and requested him to record his statement in the continuing land scam case, sources mentioned on Saturday (December 30). The ED issued a letter-cum-summons to Soren looking for his availability for questioning in the cash laundering case.
The Chief Minister has been requested by the central company to convey to the investigating officer the date, venue and time of his selection in order that his statement may be recorded below the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they mentioned.
Soren has been requested to reply to the letter by December 31, failing which the company will provoke additional authorized motion below the provisions of the anti-money laundering legislation.
Seventh summons to Soren
This is the seventh discover or summons issued to Soren however he has by no means deposed earlier than the ED. The first was issued for August 14.
Soren had filed a petition earlier than the Supreme Court after which the Jharkhand High Court and sought safety from the ED motion, terming the summons as “unwarranted”. Both the courts had dismissed his petition.
Soren had claimed in the High Court that the summons was issued out of malice and false allegations had been levelled towards him with the only real motive of making political uncertainty and unrest in Jharkhand.
The probe pertains to a “huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia” in Jharkhand, in accordance to the ED.
14 arrested up to now
The company has arrested 14 individuals in the case, together with 2011-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Chhavi Ranjan who had earlier served because the director of the state social welfare division and deputy commissioner of Ranchi.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief was questioned by the ED in November final yr in one other cash laundering case linked to alleged unlawful mining in the state.
(With PTI inputs)
