Soren lodges FIR against ED sleuths

Ranchi: Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren has lodged an FIR against senior Enforcement Directorate personnel at the SC/ST police station here over searches conducted by the agency at his Delhi residence, officials said on Wednesday. Soren alleged that the ED conducted the search operation at his residence in the national capital to "harass and malign him and his entire community", the officials said, quoting the FIR.

"An FIR has been lodged against some senior ED officials... we got the application from the chief minister," Ranchi Senior Superintendent of Police Chandan Kumar Sinha said.

"My family members and I have suffered and experienced immense mental, psychological and emotional harm because of the acts committed...," Soren said in the FIR, according to the officials. An ED team searched Soren's Delhi residence on Monday and camped there for almost 13 hours in order to question him in an alleged money laundering case linked to a land deal in Jharkhand.

The agency claimed to have seized Rs 36 lakh, an SUV and some "incriminating" documents during the search. The chief minister claimed that he was not the owner of the seized car, and the cash recovered did not belong to him as well, they said.