Hemant Soren, the leader of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), was granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court on Friday and was allowed to leave Birsa Munda Jail. He had been the subject of an investigation into a suspected land scam.
Hemant Soren emerged from the jail on Friday night with his spouse and other partygoers. The wife of the JMM leader, Kalpana Soren, stated, “After a long time, this day has finally come.” She also expressed thanks for the bail order. Many thanks for it.”
JMM leaders flocked to the Birsa Munda Jail to see the tribal leader, who was detained by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in January on suspicion of engaging in money laundering and a land scam.
Speaking to ANI, a JMM leader holding a picture of Hemant Soren declared, “After being charged in such a fashion, Dada has now received justice after the Honorable High Court granted him bail. On behalf of the three crore people living in Jharkhand, I would like to sincerely thank the honorable court.”
“We are all very happy that our leader has been released from prison today. Another JMM leader stated, “He will boost and strengthen our party.
The case involves an inquiry into the alleged creation of significant funds by means of official record forgeries, wherein fictitious vendors and purchasers obtained major land tracts valued at crores.
In related news, Soren’s judicial custody was prolonged till April 4 by a Special PMLA court on March 22. Soren was introduced over video conference. After Soren filed a First Information Report under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the Ranchi police also sent a notice to ED officials inviting them to participate in the probe.
The ED filed a lawsuit contesting Soren’s FIR, but the Jharkhand High Court had earlier ruled that no coercive action against the officers could be taken. Soren had claimed that the searches conducted at his homes by the ED were intended to damage his reputation and harass him due to his tribal affiliation.
Alleging that Soren had obtained 8.5 acres of land through fraudulent means, the ED claimed to have collected Rs 36 lakh in cash and investigative papers means.
According to the inquiry, dishonest property acquisitions were carried out by a syndicate that included Revenue Sub-Inspector Bhanu Pratap Prasad.
On February 29, the High Court denied Soren’s request to attend the budget session of the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly.
In accordance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, he had resigned as Chief Minister after being arrested in connection with a money laundering case.
