India’s anti-money laundering agency has arrested a top opposition leader, hours after his resignation from the chief minister’s post in Jharkhand state.
Hemant Soren, representing the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) party, faces corruption accusations, which he vehemently denies.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) detained him on Wednesday evening after a seven-hour interrogation. Soren’s party has designated transport minister Champai Soren as his successor.
Soren has challenged his arrest in India’s Supreme Court, labeling it as politically motivated, with a hearing scheduled for Friday.
He joins a roster of opposition leaders entangled in high-profile investigations conducted by India’s central agencies.
The allegations against Soren concern a property in Ranchi city, Jharkhand’s capital, purportedly acquired through illicit means by selling land owned by the Indian army.
Soren refutes the accusation, asserting that the property was erroneously linked to him.
According to reports, the ED had summoned Soren multiple times for questioning, but he declined to appear.
When officials visited his Delhi residence on Monday, he was reportedly absent. The agency seized 3.6 million rupees and a vehicle from the premises.
Soren emerged in Ranchi the following day, announcing his intention to cooperate with the agency on Wednesday.
Ahead of his interrogation, a curfew was imposed near his residence and the ED office in Ranchi.
Subsequently, Soren tendered his resignation, paving the way for his loyalist Champai Soren to assume the chief ministerial role.
The JMM characterizes the investigation against Soren as a politically driven “witch-hunt,” accusing the federal government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), of leveraging central agencies to target opposition figures before the upcoming general elections.
The BJP refutes claims of political meddling.
India’s principal opposition party, Congress, decried Soren’s arrest as an affront to federalism. Rahul Gandhi, a Congress leader, criticized the BJP for what he perceives as an assault on democracy.
Various other chief ministers and opposition leaders face corruption allegations, with instances including summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and ongoing money laundering investigations against chief ministers from southern states like Telangana, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh.
Source-BBC
