Former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren filed a bail petition before a special court in Ranchi on Tuesday, claiming that his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was politically motivated and part of a well-orchestrated conspiracy to pressure him into joining the BJP.
PMLA
The special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court scheduled April 23 as the next hearing date after the Enforcement Directorate requested time to respond.
The petition, filed by Soren’s attorney Arunabh Chowdhury, alleged, “The entirety of the petitioner’s prosecution and arrest is politically motivated, driven by extraneous considerations and forms part of a meticulously planned conspiracy by the Central Government to coerce, intimidate, and disgrace prominent opposition figures like the petitioner, aiming to compel their alignment with the Bharatiya Janata Party or inclusion in the National Democratic Alliance.”
FORMER CM
The former Chief Minister was apprehended by the central investigating agency on January 31 in connection with a money laundering case associated with an alleged land scam immediately following his resignation as the Chief Minister.
He is presently incarcerated at the Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi.
