The Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioned Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren for nearly five hours on Saturday in connection with an alleged land scam, in what the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader said was an attempt to destabilise his government.

Also Read: ED arrives at Jharkhand CM’s house for questioning on alleged land scam

The central probe agency is expected to quiz the leader for another day which will be decided later, people familiar with the matter said, as ED officials left the CM’s Kanke Road residence in the state capital Ranchi amid heavy security deployment.

“They [the Centre] are hatching conspiracies… We are doing the state’s development by shredding their conspiracies to pieces. It is time to put a final nail in their coffin. Hemant Soren will always stand with the workers,” the 48-year-old executive president of the JMM told supporters after Saturday’s questioning.

Soren gave his consent for questioning when the probe agency summoned him for the eighth time, after he skipped the first seven.

“I thank you for your day-long support. I want to assure you that we are neither afraid nor have ever bowed down. Irrespective of any obstacle we are not going to bow down to lies,” he said in a brief address outside his house where hundreds of JMM supporters had gathered earlier in the day to protest the ED action.

“We have been marching ahead untying the web of opposition’s conspiracy. You need not be afraid. Keep your morale high. I assure you it is your leader who would take the first bullet fired at us,” Soren said.

The central agency’s Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) probe against Soren pertains to an alleged land scam linked to the ownership of a parcel of land measuring 7.16 acres in Bajra area of Ranchi. It has been alleged that the land parcel was acquired through proceeds of crime involving illegal sale of army land. The Soren government, however, has said that the case is not clear and the details of his assets are already public.

A team of ED officials reached the CM’s residence at around 1pm on Saturday, and began questioning at around 3pm, an official said requesting anonymity.

Ahead of the questioning, ED officials said that Soren will be questioned on his alleged ownership of this land.

“The questioning is related to an ongoing money laundering investigation in the matter (involving)Bhanu Pratap Prasad, the then revenue sub inspectors and others in connection with an ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report) recorded in 2023. The subject ECIR was recorded in connection with tampering/falsification of government records. The agency is recording his statement related to the matter and obtaining details of properties in his possession,” an ED official said requesting anonymity.

The agency has so far arrested 14 people in the case, including 2011-batch IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan, who served as the director of the state’s Social Welfare Department and deputy commissioner of Ranchi, Bhanu Pratap Prasad, and businessmen Amit Agrawal and Bishnu Agrawal who own shopping malls in Ranchi.

On Saturday, hundreds of JMM workers, along with different tribal outfits staged demonstrations across the state, alleging that Soren was being targeted by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government through agencies such as the ED. Tribal outfit Adivasi Sangh blocked the Giridih-Dumri Road in protest against the ED’s questioning.

Also Read: Tribal leaders stage protest against ED questioning of Jharkhand CM Soren

The area around the CM’s house turned into a virtual fortress with the deployment of over 1,000 security personnel.

“More than 1,000 security personnel have been deployed. Three-layer security has been ensured,” Ranchi senior superintendent of police Chandan Kumar Sinha said.

Ranchi administration has ensured three-layer security arrangements around the probe agency’s office and CM House to avoid any untoward incident, he said.

Additionally, two companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) reached the spot only to return after the district administration’s intervention. “The CRPF officials arrived on direction from Union home ministry on request from the ED. However, they returned after intervention from the district administration,” a senior official said.

The security measures come in the wake of the recent attack on ED officials in West Bengal during a raid pertaining to an alleged multi-crore ration distribution scam.

Meanwhile, in a show of support, the JMM convened a meeting of its legislators at Soren’s residence.

“The ED is questioning the CM… We are also holding our meeting… Any strategy about the future course of action will be made based on the outcome of the questioning,” JMM general secretary and spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya told PTI.

Jamtara MLA Irfan Ansari, who met Soren before the questioning, said the chief minister asked party workers to be patient. “The CM, after seeing me, turned emotional and asked us to have patience,” Ansari said. The Congress MLA also shared a video from Soren’s residence where the CM could be heard consoling him.

Taking a swipe at Ansari’s video, leader of opposition and Bharatiya Janata Party legislator from Chandankiyari Amar Bauri said, “It is natural to shed tears at the time of farewell. This government is on its way out.”

“The CM should not have been given the privilege of interrogation at his official residence. Soren is scared of being arrested and that is why he did not visit the ED office for questioning,” Bauri said.

JMM MLA Ramdas Soren alleged that the ED action was an attempt to destabilise the Jharkhand government, even as the BJP accused the CM of playing the “victim card” by sponsoring protests across the state, an allegation rejected by Bhattacharya.

Jharkhand BJP president Babulal Marandi said the ED agreed to Soren’s request for questioning at the CM’s house out of respect for him.

“Now, we hope that the chief minister will also show generosity and issue an order to the Jharkhand Police today itself that instead of calling any accused to the police station and interrogating him, officers should go to the house of the accused and question,” Marandi wrote on X.

(With agency inputs)