Hemant Soren’s ED remand extended

Ranchi: A special PMLA court on Wednesday extended the Enforcement Directorate (ED) remand of former chief minister Hemant Soren by five days in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam, lawyers said. The former chief minister on February 2 was remanded to five days' ED custody by the special PMLA (The Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court which ended on Wednesday.

"The Enforcement Directorate had prayed for seven days' remand, which we vehemently opposed. The ED was granted five days' remand," Advocate General Rajeev Ranjan told reporters. Soren was arrested on the night of January 31 after a seven-hour grilling by the ED in the money laundering case. He resigned as the chief minister before that. Earlier during the day, the ED took the former CM to the civil court in Ranchi amid tight security.