Former Jharkhand CM and JMM chief Hemant Soren sent to 5-day ED custody

Ranchi, February 2

Former Jharkhand Chief Minister and JMM chief Hemant Soren was on Friday remanded to five days’ Enforcement Directorate custody by a special PMLA court here in connection with a money-laundering case linked to an alleged land fraud, lawyers said.

The ED had sought 10-day remand for Soren on Thursday. The court then reserved its order and sent the JMM executive president to judicial custody for a day.

Soren was arrested on the night of January 31 after a seven-hour grilling by the ED in the money-laundering case. He resigned as the chief minister before that.

Advocate General Rajeev Ranjan Singh, who appeared for Soren, prayed that his client be allowed to stay in jail at night as there are security concerns.

The court is yet to decide on the petition made by Singh in this regard.

This is a conspiracy to topple the government as there is no evidence in the entire proceedings against the former chief minister, Singh had told the court on Thursday.