Four fresh arrests have been made by The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the alleged illegal land grab-linked money laundering case against former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren and others.
According to official sources cited by news agency PTI, those taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) have been identified as Antu Tirkey, Priya Ranjan Sahay, Bipin Singh and Irshad.
With the latest arrest, the total number of people taken into custody in this case has risen to eight.
The ED on Tuesday had conducted searches at the premises of Tirkey and some others here and questioned them following which the four were arrested.
Tirkey is allegedly linked to Soren while Singh is a real estate businessman. According to the chargesheet filed in the case, Sahay "forged" some land-related documents along with others.
Former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, 48, was arrested by the ED in January shortly after he resigned as the chief minister.
He is currently lodged in Birsa Munda jail at Hotwar under judicial custody. Prime accused and former revenue department sub-inspector Bhanu Pratap Prasad, Mohammed Saddam Hussain and Afshar Ali have also been arrested.
Soren is accused of illegally acquiring an 8.86-acre plot of land in Ranchi. He had moved a bail petition before a special court in Ranchi on Tuesday. He alleged that his arrest was driven by political agenda and is a part of carefully orchestrated conspiracy to compel him to join BJP.
The central probe agency had filed a charge sheet against Soren, Prasad, Soren's alleged "frontmen" -- Raj Kumar Pahan and Hilariyas Kachhap -- and the former CM's alleged associate Binod Singh before a special PMLA court here on March 30.
The ED has also attached the Ranchi land and requested the court for confiscation of the plot.
The money laundering investigation began after multiple FIRs were registered by Jharkhand Police in land "scam" cases against several people, including state government officials.
The prime accused in the case is Prasad, who was the custodian of government records.
He allegedly "misused" his official position by providing assistance to several people, including Soren, in their activities linked to illegal occupation, acquisition and possession of proceeds of crime in the form of landed properties, the ED had said in a statement.
"A racket of land mafia is active in Jharkhand which used to forge the land records in Ranchi," it had claimed.
