Hearing on Hemant Soren’s bail plea, ED asks for time to reply

Ranchi: The bail plea of former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, who is jailed in the land scam, was heard in the PMLA special court on Tuesday, but he could not get immediate relief. In this case, ED sought time to present its stand and reply, which was accepted by the court.
Now the next hearing of this case has been fixed on April 23. It should be noted that on January 31, ED had arrested Hemant Soren and sent him to jail in a case related to illegal occupation of 8.66 acres of land in Badgai area of Ranchi and money laundering.
Apart from Hemant Soren, ED had also filed a charge sheet in the court on March 30 against the original owner of the land, Rajkumar Pahan, Vinod Kumar, close to Hemant Soren, Revenue Sub-Inspector Bhanu Pratap Prasad and Hilarius Kachhap. It has been told that Hemant Soren not only acquired the land illegally but also tried to destroy the evidence when the investigation started. Hemant Soren has filed a bail petition for the first time two and a half months after his arrest.