Amid confusing signals from Delhi, all the MLAs of the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led ruling alliance have been staying in Ranchi and gearing up to attend a meeting today.
Apparently, their aim is to discuss the state's current political situation amid fears that Chief Minister Hemant Soren was in ED’s custody or could be arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (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.
After the ED sleuths raided his residence in New Delhi on Monday morning,Soren, in an email sent to the ED, had 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.
When asked if Soren had returned to Ranchi, Singh did not answer.
Meanwhile, Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan said, "Like you (media), we are also waiting for the Chief Minister's response. Nobody is above the law. We have to work within the Constitution. We want law and order to be maintained." Today, he was holding talks with top brass of the state administration comprising Chief Secretary and DGP to maintain law and order.
A section of police personnel was deployed around the official residence of the CM Soren.Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure has been imposed within a radius of 100 metres of Soren's official residence, Raj Bhavan and the ED office in Ranchi.
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.
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 summons nine times. A large section of the print andTV media quoting their own “Official sources” had claimed that Soren was "missing".
However, JharkhandStateNews.com beloved on the basis of its own “ sources” that Soren is under “vigilance” of the central agency. In any case, the aeroplane of Soren remained parked at the airport in Delhi after landing there from Ranchi on January 27 night.
On Monday, CM’s office had sent an email to the agency in which he had agreed to a fresh round of questioning by the ED investigators on January 31 at his Ranchi residence around 1 pm, they said.