All speculations, and hide-and-seek games were put to an end in the late night hours of January 31 after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Jharkhand Chief Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Chairperson Hemant Soren.
Prior to his arrest, the JMM leader met Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan at the Raj Bhawan in Ranchi, and handed over his resignation after about six hours of questioning by the ED in a money laundering case linked to alleged land fraud.
Following this, senior JMM leader Champai Soren was declared as Soren's successor by the party.
The series of events came after the ED officials visited Soren's residence in Delhi to question him. During this, the central agency seized two cars and Rs 36 lakh but they did not find the JMM leader, which resulted in rumours of him "absconding".
Soren, who was issued a 10th summon in connection with the alleged land scam, wrote in a letter to the ED that he would record his statement on January 31.
As all eyes are on the political crisis in Jharkhand, it is important to note that Soren is not the first Jharkhand CM to be arrested. Even his father Shibu Soren as well as Madhu Koda were arrested in the past. Here's a look at what prompted their arrests:
Jharkhand crisis: A look at the Chief Ministers who were arrested in the past
The state of Jharkhand, which was formed on November 15, 2000, has seen six Chief Ministers so far, with Champai Soren being elected as the seventh. However, Raghubar Das of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the only CM who has completed his full term from 2014 to 2019.
President's rule has been imposed thrice in the state during these years.
Let's take a look at the Chief Ministers who have been arrested in the past.
Madhu Koda
Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda also was imprisoned for corruption during his tenure. Koda, who was the CM of the state between September 2006 to August 2008, faced charges of money laundering and accumulating disproportionate assets.
The former CM was allegedly involved in a mining scandal and accused of granting mining contracts for bribes. Reportedly, he and his connections gained over Rs 4,000 crore through such practices. After his arrest in 2009, Koda was released on bail in 2013.
Later in 2017, he was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison with a Rs 25 lakh fine.
Shibu Soren
Hemant Soren's father and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi Court in 2006 for his role in a conspiracy to kidnap and murder his former private secretary. At that time, Shibu Soren was the Coal Minister in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's cabinet.
Later, after an appeal by Soren to the Delhi High Court, a two-judge bench said the prosecution had not provided enough evidence to prove Soren's involvement in the death of his secretary Shashi Nath Jha.
Shashi Nath Jha went missing in May 1994 and his body was later found in Ranchi.
The prosecution had alleged that Jha had knowledge of bribes allegedly paid by then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao to Soren and other members of his party to win a parliament confidence vote and was blackmailing Soren.
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