SUMAN K SHRIVASTAVA
Ranchi, February 7: The Special (PMLA) Court today granted five days more to interrogate former Chief Minister Hemant Soren as the ED brought into the public domain a litany of charges.
These charges involved misusing his position not only to acquire the proceeds of crime but also to destroy the evidence to conceal the proceeds of crime.
Soren’s five-day custody, initially granted to the ED on February 5, ended today. The ED arrested the former chief minister on January 31 for illegally acquiring 8.5 acres of land in Ranchi.
Corrupt practices
The ED brought to the court’s notice several other digital pieces of evidence to link Soren’s role in other corrupt practices in connivance with his key associate Binod Singh.
The ED has stated that Hemant Soren was also confronted with his chats over WhatsApp with his close associate Binod Singh, which is highly incriminating and contains details of several properties.
Soren refuses to sign
However, Heman Soren refused even to sign and acknowledge the printout of the WhatsApp chats, although he has admitted that there are conversations between them.
Exchange of confidential information
“These WhatsApp chats not only include the exchange of confidential information regarding several properties but other incriminating information relating to transfer posting, sharing of government records, etc., out of which huge amounts of money appear to have been generated and transacted,” it said.
Transfer-posting, JSSC admit cards
“In addition to this, Binod Singh has WhatsApp chats with several other persons about transfer posting of officials, possession and sharing of several admit cards of students appearing for competitive exams held by the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission,” the ED has stated.
The ED has also shared some of the images, which, it says, are only a few samples of the conversation, which
Hemant Soren is having with his associate Binod Singh.
Their conversation has been printed on 539 pages (excluding the media). These chats have exchanged several confidential documents.
The ED has said that Hemant Soren was not cooperating with the agency.
Evidence tampering
The ED has said that after issuing the first summons to illegally acquire 8.5 acres of land in Bariatu near DAV School, Hemant Soren indulged in blatant misuse of power in hampering and frustrating the evidence linked to this case.
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Narrating the chain of events, it said that the first summons was issued to Hemant Soren on 08.08.2023 for an appearance on 14.08.2023. On 16.08.2023, a petition was made by one Raj Kumar Pahan to the Circle Officer, Baragai, stating that he had been in possession of land, and some persons had managed to get illegal Jamabandi of his land and further requested the Circle Officer to take necessary actions to save him from eviction from his said land.
“Soon, processes relating to official verification and preparation of reports regarding this land started. On 29.01.2024, the SAR finally restored the property to one Raj Kumar Pahan while searches were going on this matter at Soren’s Delhi residence,’” it has pointed out.
“During the custody, Hemant Soren was confronted with the materials available with the ED. He has been showing acute non-cooperation and is reluctant to divulge facts regarding the properties he acquired and other persons connected to him,” the ED has said.
The ED said that the proceeds of crime acquired by him are not only restricted to the investigation of the property admeasuring 8.5 acres but there are several other properties linked to him and an investigation to
Identifying the proceeds of crime and its trail of money is required at this stage.
The agency said that further summonses have been issued to other persons, including witnesses in the instant case, and the outcome of the proceedings needs to be confronted with Hemant Soren.
“Revenue official Bhanu Pratap Prasad has also been taken into custody, and his examination is ongoing. The outcome of his statement is also to be confronted with Hemant Soren,” the ED stated while producing grounds for extension of his remand.
