Former Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren, was sent to the Birsa Munda Central Jail on Thursday after his 13-day custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) ended in the alleged land scam case.
He will be lodged in judicial custody for 14 days. Earlier in the day, Mr. Soren was produced in the Special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court after the remand period was over.
Mr. Soren was arrested by the ED on January 31 in connection with allegedly forging the land documents of 8.5 acres in the Badgai area of Ranchi between 2020 and 2022.
After his arrest, the Central agency had taken Mr. Soren on remand from the special court thrice for questioning.
After leaving the court, Mr. Soren was sent to the jail located at Hotwar in Ranchi under tight security. He has been kept in cell number one upper division, which is mainly used for VIP prisoners. A staff has also been provided to him in the cell.
Silent protest
Demanding justice for Mr. Soren, hundreds of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) workers gathered at Morahabadi ground under Bapu Tower and staged a silent protest led by JMM Rajya Sabha member Mahua Manjhi. The party has also decided to take out a Nyay Yatra to free Mr. Soren from the jail.
“We have chosen a non-violence way to lodge a protest against the BJP and to extend support to our leader Hemant Soren ji. The BJP is harassing all popular leaders of the opposition parties who are not with them. The Central agencies should work without any partiality. Those who have joined the BJP are safe. The ED, CBI and Income Tax are no more troubling those leaders,” Ms. Manjhi said.
She said action against Mr. Soren had been taken keeping the Lok Sabha election in mind.
Jharkhand Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) State general secretary Manoj Kumar Pandey said that as being the part of the government, the party had decided to launch Statewide protests to seek justice for Mr. Soren.
