'Missing' Hemant Soren surfaces in Ranchi, to face ED on Wednesday

Ranchi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who went 'missing', returned to his official residence here on Tuesday and held a meeting with his JMM MLAs in which his wife Kalpna Soren was also present - the first time she has attended any party meeting.

He also met MLAs of the ruling alliance of JMM, Congress, and RJD and his cabinet ministers.

Hemant Soren reached his Kanker Road residence at around 1:50 pm along with a security guard. He returned from Delhi late on Monday night amid uncertainty about his location.

The ED has been on the lookout for Soren since Monday morning. They searched for him at several places including his Delhi residence and Jharkhand Bhawan, but he was not found.

In the meeting held on Tuesday afternoon, the current political situation was discussed at length. His scheduled interrogation on Wednesday by the ED was also discussed.

CM Soren, who is under ED lens in a money laundering case probe linked to an alleged land scam, is likely to resign from his post if he is arrested by the probe agency. In that case, Kalpana Soren can be elected the leader of the ruling coalition.

Amid reports of the CM being 'missing' for more than 24 hours, Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan summoned state Home Secretary Avinash Kumar, DGP Ajay Kumar and Chief Secretary L. Khyangte to Raj Bhavan on Tuesday and was briefed on the law and order situation in the state.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has appealed to the Governor to send a report to the Centre under Article 355 with regard to the situation in the state.

Hemant Soren had gone to Delhi by chartered plane on the evening of January 27. He was at his residence in Shanti Niketan in Delhi till around 11 p.m. on January 28. On January 29, from morning till late night, the ED searched several places including his Delhi residence for him, his car was seized with Rs 36 lakh in it, but he was not found.

However, on the afternoon of January 29, he sent a mail to the ED informing them that he would be available to record his statement at 1 pm on January 31.

The JMM has alleged that the ED’s action against Soren was politically motivated and “unconstitutional”. Soren has nothing to do in the case. The party has planned a three-day protest for 'harassing' the Chief Minister.

In view of this, prohibitory order under Section 144 has been clamped around CM House, Raj Bhavan and ED office located on Airport Road. Any kind of gathering is prohibited within a radius of 100 metres from the boundary of the Chief Minister's residence, Raj Bhavan and the ED office.