THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Ranchi, April 5: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has urged the Jharkhand High Court to hand over the case lodged by former Chief Minister Hemant Soren against its officers and media persons under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Soren had alleged in the FIR that the ED officers had conducted raids at his Delhi residence and Jharkhand Bhawan to tarnish his image as a tribal person and thus blemish the tribal society as a whole.
FIR was lodged hours before Soren’s arrest
Soren lodged the case, being investigated by the Ranchi Police, hours before his arrest by the ED on January 31.
The ED had earlier challenged it in the Jharkhand High Court, which stayed the Ranchi Police notices issued to the ED officials, including Additional Director Kapil Raj, Assistant Director Deovrat Jha, Anupam Kumar, and another officer in the case under CRPC-41A.
ED cites the case in its chargesheet as misconduct
Notably, the ED, in its chargesheet filed against Soren and four others in the Ranchi PMLA Court on March 30 cited the SC/ST case as misconduct on the part of Soren.
Vexatious complaint: ED
It pointed out that “Hemant Soren filed a false and vexatious complaint against the ED officers who conducted a search at his Delhi residence.”
“The registration of the FIR shows Soren’s misconduct in misusing state machinery to threaten the officials involved in the investigation,” it added.
“Even while we were making his statement on January 31, it was widely reported in the media that the Directorate of Enforcement officials would be arrested that day. This was all aimed at deterring the officials, thwarting the ongoing investigation of the land-grabbing case related to money laundering by Soren and his accomplices, and destroying evidence,” the ED said.
“By filing this frivolous complaint and misusing his position, he managed to get an FIR registered and the case instituted against the team probing the case against him.
Thus, it is apparent that Hemant Soren, out of vengeance, lodged the FIR on a frivolous complaint and further managed to get notices issued to the Directorate of Enforcement officials in a bid to impede the investigation against him,” it said in the charge-sheet.
Notably, the Ranchi Police recently recorded statements of Hillarious Kachhap and Rajkumar Pahan, both charge-sheeted by the ED in the money laundering case.