‘Missing’, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren: BJP’s poster dig, cash reward

Jharkhand BJP president Babulal Marandi on Tuesday took a dig at Hemant Soren and tweeted a 'missing' poster which also mentioned a cash reward of Rs 11,000 to those who gave information about the Chief Minister's whereabouts.

The development came amid speculation over Soren's mysterious disappearance after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at his official residence in Delhi on Monday. Notably, Soren was not present in the house during the raids, prompting ED officials to claim that he was "missing".

In the poster tweeted by Marandi, who is also the Leader of the Opposition of Jharkhand Assembly, Soren is described as a person who is 5 foot 2 inches, wearing a white shirt, black trousers and slippers.

The poster claims that Soren had been missing for over "40 hours" and was last seen walking around with his security personnel at 2 am.

It also asked the people to give information at the Chief Minister's house in Ranchi if Soren was found, adding that a cash reward of Rs 11,000 would be given.

Meanwhile, all the legislators of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led ruling alliance have been asked to stay put in Ranchi and attend a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the state's current political situation amid fears that Chief Minister Hemant Soren could be arrested by the ED in an alleged land fraud case.

The JMM, the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) are part of the ruling alliance in Jharkhand.

Soren, in an email sent to the ED, said he agreed to record his statement in connection with an alleged land scam at his official residence in Ranchi on January 31 at 1 pm.

The JMM legislators had remained at Soren's official residence in Delhi till late night on Monday after an ED team visited there to question him in connection with a money laundering investigation in an alleged land fraud case. Officials seized the Chief Minister's two BMWs, some incriminating documents and Rs 36 lakh in cash.

The ED had questioned Soren at his official residence in Ranchi on January 20 in the case, and issued a tenth summons to him asking him to confirm his availability for questioning on either January 29 or January 31. So far, Soren has skipped ED summonses nine times.

Soren, who had left for Delhi from Ranchi on January 27 night, had sent an email to the agency in which he agreed to a fresh round of questioning by the ED investigators on January 31 at his Ranchi residence around 1 pm, they said.

The JMM said the ED’s action against Soren was “unconstitutional”.

“The Chief Minister went to Delhi for some personal work and he will be back. But, the ED action is uncalled for and unconstitutional. It seems that the move is politically motivated,” alleged JMM general secretary and spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya.

“Soren has nothing to do with the case,” he claimed.

(with inputs from PTI)