AMID suspense about his whereabouts, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren arrived at his official residence in Ranchi and chaired a meeting of alliance legislators on Tuesday. A high-voltage drama began unfolding after an ED team searched his Delhi residence on Monday, and camped there for almost 13 hours in order to question him in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land deal in Jharkhand. Later, the ED claimed to have seized Rs 36 lakh, an SUV and some “incriminating” documents during the search. Soren, also the executive president of the ruling JMM, had left for the national capital on January 27 night, while his scheduled Government programmes in the State were cancelled without any explanation.

 

The 48-year leader who was groomed into a leadership role by his father and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) supremo Shibu Soren after his elder brother Durga Soren died in 2009, is possibly facing his toughest test so far. “I reside in your hearts,” he asserted facing the media for the first time post his return to Ranchi. After chairing the meeting of legislators at his home to chalk the future course of strategy, Soren went to Bapu Vatika, a local park, to pay tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on his death anniversary.