ED arrests Hemant; aide Champai may take over

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Hemant Soren on money laundering allegations minutes after he resigned as chief minister of Jharkhand on Wednesday, even as the state's ruling alliance picked trusted aide and sitting minister Champai Soren as its next leader and said he enjoyed a comfortable majority.

- Neeraj Chauhan and Raj Kumar

In the span of a dramatic few hours on Wednesday evening, Soren drove to Raj Bhavan and tendered his resignation even as 47 lawmakers backing the government followed him in three buses to meet governor CP Radhakrishnan.

In a letter addressed to his party's MLAs before his arrest, Soren confirmed Champai Soren as legislature party leader.

"If I am arrested, in such a situation, after due consideration, I have decided to nominate Champai Soren as the new leader of the legislature party," he wrote.

State minister Mithilesh Thakur said: "With our majority, and all our signatures, we have tried to make Raj Bhavan aware that we have picked Champai Soren as our leader. Champai Soren will be the next CM."

At around 10pm, Soren returned to his residence and hand to be arrested, after his father Shibu Soren and Madhu Koda.

"We have evidence that he grabbed some land, which was illegally obtained by others through falsified documents," said an ED officer, who didn't want to be named.

Soren appeared defiant. "I have always fought and will continue to fight. But I will not compromise," he posted on X.

Raj Bhavan later released a photo of Soren submitting his resignation to the governor, accompanied by Champai Soren, Left lawmaker Vinod Singh, Congress leader Pradeep Yadav, minister Alamgir Alam, and Rashtriya Janata Dal legislator Satyanand Bhokta. "We have 47 MLAs and we should be allowed to form the government. The governor said that he will check our papers and call us," said Alam.

The assembly strength is 81.

On a tense day in Ranchi, with prohibitory orders clamped across large swathes of the state capital, Soren's questioning began at 1.15pm at his residence, with ruling party legislators also in the premises. The questioning lasted for seven hours.