ED Arrests Hemant Soren In Land Scam Case After He Resigned From Jharkhand CM's Post, Champai Soren To Succeed Him

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday (31 January) night after he submitted his resignation to Governor CP Radhakrishnan at the Raj Bhawan in Ranchi.

Soren submitted his resignation when he was in ED's custody after facing seven hours-long grilling. The law enforcement agency arrested him soon after the governor accepted his resignation.

Champai Soren, a minister in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) government, is likely to take over as the next Chief Minister of the state.

The JMM Chief was summoned for the second round of questioning with option to appear either on 29 January or 31 January in an alleged land scam case.

The case comes under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as the ED alleged of a "huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia" taking place in Jharkhand.

The agency has already arrested 14 individuals in connection with the case, including Chhavi Ranjan, a 2011-batch Indian Administrative Service officer who previously served as the director of the state social welfare department and deputy commissioner of Ranchi.