A special PMLA court in Ranchi on Wednesday extended the ED remand of former Jharkhand Chief Minister and JMM executive president Hemant Soren by five days in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. Soren, who was remanded to five days of ED custody on February 2, faced an extension of his custody which concluded on Wednesday.
Soren's arrest came on the night of January 31 after a prolonged interrogation by the ED in the money laundering case. He had resigned as the chief minister prior to his arrest. The investigation against Soren revolves around an alleged "huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia" in Jharkhand.
Following his arrest, Soren approached the Supreme Court, alleging that his arrest was part of a premeditated conspiracy orchestrated by the Centre ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. However, the apex court declined to intervene with his arrest by the probe agency.
During the day, the ED escorted Soren to the civil court in Ranchi, where he acknowledged the support of his followers who rallied behind him with chants of 'Hemant Soren Zindabad' and 'Jail Ka Darwaja Tootega, Hemant Bhaiya Chootega' (Jail doors will be broken, brother Hemant will be released).
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee voiced her solidarity with Hemant Soren, denouncing his arrest and praising him as a formidable tribal leader. In a public statement, she criticized the arrest as an unjust move by BJP-backed central agencies, alleging a deliberate attempt to undermine a democratically elected government.
"I strongly condemn the unjust arrest of Shri Hemant Soren, a powerful tribal leader. The vindictive act by BJP-backed central agencies reeks of a planned conspiracy to undermine a popularly elected government," she wrote on X.