‘Misuse of power’: ED claims Hemant Soren ‘forcefully’ acquired land worth ₹31 crore in Ranchi

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday filed its charge sheet in the money laundering probe against former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren. The probe agency in its charge sheet said it has attached 8.86 acres of land in Ranchi allegedly belonging to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) working president.

The ED had filed a charge sheet against the 48-year-old JMM leader and four others -- Bhanu Pratap Prasad, Raj Kumar Pahan, Hilariyas Kachhap and Binod Singh -- on March 30 before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Ranchi.

ED said in a statement that the agency took cognizance of the prosecution complaint on Thursday. The central agency requested the court to confiscate the 8.86-acre land in Ranchi.

Read more: Soren created parallel evidence to conceal illegal land, claims ED

In its chargesheet, the financial crimes probe agency alleged, "A racket of land mafia is active in Jharkhand which used to forge the land records in Ranchi."

During the probe, the ED said, it was found that the ownership records of lands had also been "forged" to extend favours to the said land mafia and subsequently, on the basis of forged land records, such land parcels were sold to other persons.

The central agency said that the original ownership of these lands is either tampered with or concealed to facilitate illegal acquisition, possession or use of this property.

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Hemant Soren ‘misusing power and influence’

The land that is alleged to have been acquired by Hemant Soren is about 8.86 acres in size and is located at Baragain Anchal, Bariyatu Road in Ranchi. It was valued at ₹31,07,02,480 as per urban residential property rate of ₹3,50,680 per decimal, stated the ED charge sheet, which was accessed by PTI.

The agency said Soren was in the "possession" of this immovable asset since 2010-11 in a "camouflaged and concealed" manner. It also accused Soren of "misusing his power and influence" to create "parallel and false evidence" since he was issued the first summons for questioning in this case on August 7, 2023, for appearance a week later.

The agency said they have recorded the statement of a person identified as Baijnath Munda and his cousin Shyamlal Pahan who claimed that the land, which Soren is alleged to have taken over, "was originally owned by his ancestors and was forcefully acquired by Shibu Soren (Hemant Soren's father) and Hemant Soren" and their complaint in this regard was not accepted at any police station due to their (Sorens) "high influence".

(With inputs from PTI)