Protest erupts over ED summons to Jharkhand CM, Sahibganj bandh today

Hemant agrees to agency quizzing on Jan 20 at residence 

Ranchi, January 16: A day after Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren agreed to Enforcement Directorate’s summon and asked them to come to his official residence for questioning on January 20, JMM activists have called bandh in Sahibganj.

Activists and supporters of JMM have called a bandh in Sahibganj on January 17 against ED’s interrogation of Chief Minister Hemant Soren in the Ranchi land scam case.

A torch procession was taken out in Sahibganj on Tuesday evening under the leadership of JMM district president Shahjahan Ansari. The rally was taken out from Railway General Institute and expressed anger against the federal agency.

Former MP and senior JMM leader Hemlal Murmu said that the central government is trying to destabilize the elected government of Hemant Soren.

Hemlal Murmu said that the central government is the killer of democracy. Hemlal Murmu alleged that in non-BJP ruled states, agencies like ED, CBI and NIA are being used to suppress the opposition. He called it a politically motivated action.

“There will be a peaceful strike in Sahibganj district on Wednesday. The railway track will be blocked,” said Murmu.

Rajmahal MP Vijay Hansda said that the BJP government at the Center is trying to tarnish the image of Chief Minister Hemant Soren by misusing the central agencies.

JMM central general secretary and national spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said that there is huge resentment among tribal at ED’s repeated summon to Hemant Soren. He alleged that the ED was acting as a political front of BJP.

It is noteworthy that ED had issued the first summons in the land scam case on 14 August 2023. After this, 8 summons were issued to the Chief Minister till January 2024 for a probe into an alleged land scam case in Ranchi.

 After the 8th summons, the Chief Minister wrote a letter to the ED on Monday and asked it to come to the residence on January 20. Actually, on the 8th summons, ED had said that Hemant Soren should choose any day from 16-20 January.

The ED had on Saturday sent him a letter, asking him to be available for questioning in the case between January 16 and January 20, they added.

The ED sent the letter after Soren skipped seven summons of the agency.

A person from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) submitted Soren’s reply to the letter, informing that he would be available to record his statement in the case on January 20, to the ED’s office in Ranchi.