Ex-Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren Granted Bail in Land Scam Case

The Jharkhand High Court on Friday granted bail to former Jharkhand Chief Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Chief, Hemant Soren, in the alleged land scam case.

Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 31 on money laundering charges. The ED has accused him of running a scheme to manipulate records, via fictitious transactions and forged documents, and acquire 8.86 acres of land in Ranchi worth crores.

Earlier, the court had reserved its order on June 13 on the JMM chief's bail plea.

"Bail has been granted to Soren. The court has held that prima facie he is not guilty of the offence and there is no likelihood of the petitioner committing an offence when on bail," Soren's senior counsel Arunabh Chowdhury told PTI.

In related events, on March 22, a Special PMLA court extended Soren's judicial custody until April 4. Soren was presented via video conferencing. The Ranchi police had also notified ED officials to join the investigation following an FIR filed by Soren under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Last month, the Supreme Court of India declined to grant interim bail to the former Jharkhand Chief Minister.

On June 22, the ED had seized Rs 1 crore in cash and 100 live bullet rounds following raids in Ranchi as part of alleged land grab-linked money laundering investigation against Soren and others

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