BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Monday claimed that Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren will resign and his wife Kalpana Soren is set to replace him. The big claim by the BJP leader came in the context of legal troubles mounting against Soren in a money laundering case.
In X post, the BJP MP wrote, “Jharkhand’s Gandey MLA Sarfaraz Ahmad resigned from the assembly, resignation accepted. Hemant Soren ji will resign from the post of chief minister, the next chief minister of Jharkhand will be his wife Kalpana Soren ji. New year painful for Soren family @itssuniltiwari.”
Money laundering case: ED writes to Soren seeking his availability for questioning
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on December 30 issued a letter-cum-summons to Soren seeking his availability for questioning in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.
Soren, 48, has been asked by the central agency to inform the investigating officer of the case about the date, venue and time of his choice so that his statement can be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.
This is the seventh notice or summons issued to Soren but he has never deposed before the ED. The first was issued for August 14. He had filed a petition before the Supreme Court and then the Jharkhand High Court seeking protection from the ED action and terming the summons “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 against him with the sole motive of creating 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, according to the ED.
The agency has arrested 14 people in the case, including 2011-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Chhavi Ranjan who had earlier served as the director of the state social welfare department and deputy commissioner of Ranchi.