Illegal Mining Case: Hemant Soren Issues Deepen, ED Recovers Passbooks, Cheque Books From Pankaj Mishra’s House
Ranchi, 3rd October 2022: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s troubles have not subsided in the case of illegal mining.
A bank passbook signed and an unsigned cheque book of the CM have been recovered during the raid from the residence of his close aide and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Pankaj Mishra. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) says Mishra is the main accused in the money laundering case related to alleged illegal mining in the state.
Mishra was arrested on 19th July under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He is currently in judicial custody. Apart from Mishra, his associates Bachchu Yadav and Prem Prakash have been accused in this case too. Both were arrested on 4th and 5th August respectively, and are currently in judicial custody.
The ED had started its probe against Mishra and others in the alleged money laundering case on 8th March based on an FIR in Sahibganj district. On 16th September, the federal agency recorded the statement of former JMM treasurer Ravi Kejriwal in a charge sheet-like prosecution complaint filed before a special PMLA court, which reportedly said that it was in his presence that the chief minister had directed Mishra to “directly hand over the money coming from the Santhal Pargana to Prem Prakash from the stone and sand mining businesses.”
During a raid in Ranchi on 24th August, two AK-47s of Jharkhand Police were recovered from Prakash’s residence. Soren is currently facing an office of profit for allotting himself a mining lease. In August, the Election Commission had sent its opinion to Governor Ramesh Bais on a petition disqualifying Soren. Despite the chief minister’s request, the commission has refused to make the opinion public.
Soren’s secretary Vinay Choubey declined to comment. At the same time, his media advisor Abhishek Prasad did not respond to calls and messages made regarding ED’s charge sheet. JMM spokesperson Manoj Pandey said the party would not comment on the matter under consideration. According to the charge sheet, Soren’s bank passbook was among the documents seized during the ED raid on Mishra’s residence in Sahibganj district on 8th July.
“A sealed envelope containing one passbook and two cheque books, containing two signed checks- 004718 and 004719,” the charge sheet said. Apart from this, 31 blank checks whose no. 005720 to 004750, belong to Bank of India, Gangaprasad branch, Sahibganj, all in the name of Hemant Soren with account number 5932xxxxxxxxxxx.’ The ED has also provided a list of 43 witnesses including Kejriwal and a list of their recorded statements to prove its charges against the above three accused.
