RANCHI: Amid speculations that Chief Minister Hemant Soren is likely to reach Jharkhand on Tuesday, Governor CP Radhakrishnan has summoned Chief Secretary L Khiangte, DGP Ajay Kumar and Home Secretary Avinash Kumar to take stock of the law and order situation in the state.
According to sources, Soren quietly left his Delhi residence in the wee hours of Monday, hardly a few hours before the ED team reached there. The Chief Minister, accompanied by one of his aides, left his residence early in the morning after which he has been traceless.
When ED officiald reached Soren’s residence around 8 am on Monday, he was not at his residence. The ED officials stayed there for some hours and left after they could not find the Chief Minister.
Meanwhile, Section 144 has been imposed around the Chief Minister's residence, Raj Bhavan and office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the wake of JMM warning that agitation of party workers may take an ugly turn.
Amidst all this suspicion, Jharkhand has been put on alert, especially those districts having JMM strongholds. In addition to that, security has been beefed up at the Chief Minister’s residence, Raj Bhawan, the ED office, the BJP office along with offices of top state BJP leaders.
All the MLAs of the ruling alliance have been asked to remain in the state capital. They have already started reaching Ranchi.
A meeting is scheduled to take place at the Chief Minister’s residence in Ranchi which Soren is expected to chair.
“Chief Minister Hemant Soren has not been kidnapped and will be present here in the meeting which is to take place at his residence on Wednesday,” said Congress MLA MLA Amba Prasad.
An e-mail sent to ED by the Office of Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday has claimed that he will be available for questioning on January 31 at 1 pm at his residence in Ranchi in connection with the alleged land scam case.
- by Mukesh Ranjan