ED makes fresh arrest in money laundering case against Hemant Soren

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has made a fresh arrest in connection with its ongoing alleged land grab linked money laundering investigation against former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, official sources said Tuesday, 9 April.

Mohammed Saddam Hussain was lodged in jail as part of a separate money laundering case linked to a similar alleged land scam case of Jharkhand and the central agency took his custody in the instant case after an application was made to the court, the sources said.

This is the third arrest in the case after 48-year-old Soren and former state government revenue department sub inspector Bhanu Pratap Prasad.

Saddam is alleged to have "forged" land records related to the 8.86 acre land in Ranchi that the ED has alleged was illegally acquired by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader.

The ED had arrested Saddam in the first money laundering case in April 2023 after it recovered some hand-written diaries allegedly from his and some of his associates' possession. These diaries, according to the ED, "cash payments" made to Prasad were mentioned.

Soren was arrested by the ED in January shortly after he resigned as the chief minister. He is currently lodged at the Birsa Munda jail at Hotwar in Ranchi under judicial custody.

A charge sheet was filed by the ED against Soren, Prasad, Soren's alleged "frontmen" Raj Kumar Pahan and Hilariyas Kachhap and an alleged associate of the former chief minister, Binod Singh, on 30 March before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court here.

The ED has also attached the Ranchi land and requested the court for confiscation of the 8.86-acre plot.

The money laundering investigation stems from multiple FIRs registered by Jharkhand Police in land "scam" cases against several persons including state government officials.

The prime accused in the case is Prasad, also a custodian of government records, who is alleged to have "misused" his official position by providing assistance to several persons including Soren in their activities linked to illegal occupation, acquisition and possession of proceeds of crime in form of landed properties, the agency had said in a statement.

"A racket of land mafia is active in Jharkhand which used to forge the land records in Ranchi," it has claimed.