One-day judicial custody for Hemant Soren; court order on ED's 10-day remand plea tomorrow

NEW DELHI: Jharkhand's former chief minister Hemant Soren was sent to one-day judicial custody on Thursday, after a special PMLA court in Ranchi reserved the order till February 2 on Enforcement Directorate's (ED) plea for 10-day remand.
Soren was arrested on Wednesday night after resigning as the Jharkhand chief minister, while Shibu Soren loyalist and state transport minister Champai Soren's name was proposed as the CM.Hemant Soren was arrested after a marathon seven hours of grilling by the Enforcement Directorate.
An hour before he was whisked away by ED officials, Soren handed over his resignation to governor CP Radhakrishnan around 8:30 pm, even as the governing Jharkhand Mukti Morcha announced that the name of his aide and transport minister Champai Soren as the next CM.
The arrest was a finale of the cat-and-mouse game played by Hemant with the central agency for the last two days over his questioning over alleged money laundering in a land scam involving transfer and settlement of land parcels by forging documents.
The JMM-Congress-RJD combine submitted a letter to the governor, proposing the name of Seraikela MLA and rural development minister Champai Soren as the new leader of the coalition. "The ball is now in the Raj Bhavan's court," state Congress president Rajesh Thakur told TOI outside the governor house.
Equipped with a letter of support from 47 MLAs to Champai in the 81-member house, the coalition sought an appointment with the governor. However, till late at night, the governor remained silent about giving them an audience.