The Evening Wrap: ED attaches ₹31-crore worth Ranchi land ‘belonging’ to Hemant Soren

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached land measuring 8.86 acres, allegedly owned by former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren in Ranchi, as part of a money laundering investigation against him and his associates, the federal agency said on April 4. It had filed a charge sheet against the 48-year-old JMM leader and four others — Bhanu Pratap Prasad, Raj Kumar Pahan, Hilariyas Kachhap and Binod Singh — on March 30 before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court here. The court took cognisance of the prosecution complaint on April 04, the ED said in a statement. The ED requested the court for confiscation of the 8.86-acre plot. Soren was arrested in this case by the ED in January after he was questioned at his official residence in Ranchi by the ED. He had resigned as the chief minister before that. He is currently lodged in the Birsa Mundal central jail at Hotwar in Ranchi under judicial custody. The money laundering investigation stems from multiple FIRs registered by Jharkhand Police in land “scam” cases against several persons including government officials. The prime accused in the case is former Jharkhand revenue department official and custodian of government records, Prasad, who is alleged to have “misused” his official position by providing assistance to several persons including Soren in their activities linked to illegal occupation, acquisition and possession of proceeds of crime in form of landed properties, the agency said in a statement. “A racket of land mafia is active in Jharkhand which used to forge the land records in Ranchi,” it claimed. Probe found, the ED said, the ownership records of lands have also been “forged” to extend favours to the said land mafia and subsequently, on the basis of forged land records, such land parcels are sold to other persons. “Original land records of ownerships are either tampered or concealed to facilitate unlawful acquisition, possession and use of such properties,” it said. Prasad, the ED said in its charge sheet, was a member of a syndicate which was involved in acquiring lands by fraudulent means which included tampering with original government registers, falsification of government records and manufacturing fake documents. The land that is alleged to have been acquired by Soren is about 8.86 acre in size and located at Baragain Anchal, Bariyatu Road in Ranchi. It has been valued at ₹31,07,02,480 as per urban residential property rate of ₹3,50,680 per decimal, the ED charge sheet, accessed by PTI, said. The agency said Soren was in “possession” of this immovable asset since 2010-11. The agency claimed Soren and Prasad were “knowingly” a party in the activities connected with acquisition, possession, concealment and use of proceeds of crime as well as projecting the said proceeds of crime (8.86 acres land) as untainted property. Accused Pahan, Kachhap and Singh “knowingly assisted” Soren in his activities connected with the proceeds of crime. Soren, in his statement to the ED, denied having any link to the said property and said he had no relation with Prasad. The ED said during its searches at a residential house “under use and control” of Soren in Delhi on January 29, cash worth ₹36.34 lakh, a BMW Luxury car and incriminating documents were seized. It said Soren said in his statement given to the ED has said that he used this car on the same day and the agency claimed the former CM purchased it by personally visiting the vehicle showroom. It said 16 people were arrested by it in the case including IAS officer and former Ranchi DC Chhavi Ranjan, Amit Kumar Agarwal and Prem Prakash. Coal India among top three CO2 emitting companies in the world: Report “The vast majority of planet-warming carbondioxide emissions since 2016 can be traced to a group of just 57 fossil fuels and cement producers,” researchers said on April 4. “From 2016 to 2022, the 57 entities including nation-states, state-owned firms and investor-owned companies produced 80% of the world’s CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and cement production,” said the Carbon Majors report by non-profit think tank InfluenceMap. “The world’s top three CO2-emitting companies in the period were state-owned oil firm Saudi Aramco, Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom and state-owned producer Coal India,” the report said. Saudi Aramco, Coal India and Gazprom did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The report found most companies had expanded their fossil fuel production since 2015, the year when nearly all countries signed the U.N. Paris Agreement, committing to take action to curb climate change. Since then, while many governments and companies have set tougher emissions targets and rapidly expanded renewable energy, they have also produced and burned more fossil fuels, causing emissions to rise. “Global energy-related CO2 emissions hit a record high last year,” the International Energy Agency has said. InfluenceMap said its findings showed that a relatively small group of emitters were responsible for the bulk of ongoing CO2 emissions, and it aimed to increase transparency around which governments and companies were causing climate change. “It can be used in a variety of cases, ranging from legal processes seeking to hold these producers to account for climate damages, or it can be used by academics in quantifying their contributions, or by campaign groups, or even by investors,” InfluenceMap Programme Manager Daan Van Acker said of the report. A previous edition of the Carbon Majors database was cited last month in a legal case brought by a Belgian farmer against French oil and gas company TotalEnergies. The farmer argued that as one of the world’s top 20 CO2-emitting companies, TotalEnergies was partly responsible for damage to his operations from extreme weather. The database was first launched in 2013 by the non-profit research organisation Climate Accountability Institute. It combines companies’ self-reported data on coal, oil and gas production with sources like the U.S. Energy Information Administration, national mining associations and other industry data. Carroll Muffett, CEO of the non-profit Center for International Environmental Law said the database would improve investors’ and litigators’ ability to track companies’ actions over time. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee says one can trust snake but not BJP West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on April 4 accused the BJP of not following the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for the Lok Sabha polls and asserted that a poisonous snake can be trusted but not the saffron camp. Addressing a rally in Cooch Behar, Banerjee alleged that the Central investigating agencies, Border Security Force (BSF) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) are working at the behest of the BJP and urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to look into it and ensure a level playing field for all political parties. “The BJP is asking you to enrol names for Awas Yojna again. Why will the names be enrolled again? They want further enrolment so that they can chuck it off. You can trust a poisonous snake; you can even pet it, but you can never trust the BJP... The BJP is destroying the country,” she said. Asserting that her party TMC will not bow before the “threat of Central agencies”, Banerjee urged women in Cooch Behar to file police complaints if “there are instances of BSF torturing locals” ahead of the polls, scheduled for April 19. “The Central investigating agencies, the NIA, Income Tax, BSF and CISF are working for the BJP. We will humbly plead to the Election Commission to ensure a level playing field as central agencies are working for the saffron camp. The BJP is violating the MCC,” she said. The BJP only “follows the principle of one nation, one party”, Banerjee claimed. While reiterating her refusal to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act in the State, Banerjee said that applying for CAA would designate an applicant as a foreigner and advised against it. Dubbing the BJP a “jumla” party, the TMC supremo accused the saffron party of “peddling lies” regarding the CAA. “The CAA is a trap to turn legal citizens into foreigners. Once you (BJP) implement CAA, NRC will follow. We would allow neither CAA nor NRC in West Bengal. If you apply, you will be designated as foreigners,” Banerjee said. She questioned the inclusion of a member from the Census Department in the CAA committee, stating, “Why has such a person been included if they have no plan for the NRC in the future? The CAA is the head and the NRC is the tail.” Banerjee criticised the Opposition bloc INDIA partners — the CPI (M) and the Congress — for “joining hands with the BJP” in West Bengal and asserted that the Opposition front ceases to exist in the State. “There is no INDIA bloc in West Bengal. I played a key role in the formation of the Opposition bloc INDIA. Even the name of the alliance was given by me. But the CPI (M) and the Congress are working for the BJP in Bengal,” she alleged. Banerjee said, “Don’t cast your vote in favour of the Congress and the CPI (M) if you want to defeat the BJP. Not a single vote to CPI (M) and Congress and their ally, a minority party (ISF). This minority party (ISF) is just like AIMIM. They are working to spilt the minority votes and help the BJP,” she added. Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh resigns, joins BJP Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh resigned from all posts and membership of the party on April 4, saying that neither can he raise anti-Sanatan slogans nor abuse ‘wealth creators’ day in and day out. Hours later, he joined the BJP in the presence of party’s national general secretary Vinod Tawde. Vallabh shared his resignation letter written to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on social media platform X. He said he was not feeling comfortable with the directionless way in which the party was moving forward. Vallabh said, “I can neither raise anti-Sanatan slogans nor abuse wealth creators day in and day out. Therefore, I resign from all posts and primary membership of the party.” He had not been attending television programmes on behalf of the party for several months and had not held any press conference for a long time. In his resignation letter, Vallabh said, “When I joined Congress, I believed that Congress is the oldest party in the country which respects youth and intellectual people and their ideas. But for some time, I felt that the party was not able to adjust with the youth having new ideas.” Vallabh claimed the Congress is completely cut off from the ground and is unable to understand the aspirations of a new India, due to which the party is neither coming to power nor is able to play the role of a strong opposition. He also said that he was upset with the stance taken by the party of staying away from the Ram Mandir ‘Pran Pratishtha’ programme in Ayodhya. Poll roundup Rahul Gandhi, who is seeking a successive term from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, has declared assets of more than ₹20 crore in his nomination papers. Gandhi filed the papers before the returning officer on April 3. He has declared movable assets to the tune of ₹9,24,59,264 and showed the purchasing price of his self-acquired immovable assets as being worth ₹7,93,03,977 in the affidavit. The affidavit also showed that the current market value of the self-acquired immovable assets as ₹9,04,89,000 and the value of the inherited assets as ₹2,10,13,598. Gandhi has claimed that he has a liability of ₹49,79,184. In the affidavit, Gandhi has declared that he has ₹55,000 as cash in hand. In the last election, he had declared total assets worth ₹15,88,77,083 whereas in 2014, it was ₹9.4 crore. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) rejected the Social Democratic Party of India’s (SDPI) support in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The UDF had drawn intense flak from the CPI(M) and BJP for “soliciting” the support of an allegedly religious fundamentalist organisation that supposedly “bore the stigma” of being the political front of the proscribed PFI. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) acting president M. M. Hassan and Leader of the Opposition V. D. Satheesan sought to end the controversy by stating that the UDF leadership in Wayanad on Wednesday had categorically rejected the SDPI’s support. In BriefIndia ‘concerned’ by Israeli attack on Iranian embassy in Syria India is concerned by the Israeli attack on the Iranian diplomatic premises in Syria on April 1, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement on April 4. “Distressed at the escalating tensions in West Asia and their potential to fuel further violence and instability”, New Delhi has urged all parties to avoid actions that go against “commonly accepted principles and norms of International Law”, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in his weekly media briefing. Israeli air strikes destroyed the Iranian embassy’s consular annex in Syria on April 1, killing and wounding everyone inside, Damascus said as Iranian state TV reported a Revolutionary Guards commander among the dead. Sonia Gandhi takes oath as Rajya Sabha member Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on April 4, 2024, took oath as Rajya Sabha member. This is her first stint in the upper house. She was elected from Rajasthan, on a seat that fell vacant after 91-year-old former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh completed his tenure on April 3rd. Thirteen other members were sworn in along with Gandhi, including the one-time Gandhi loyalist and former union minister R.P.N. Singh, who is now with the BJP. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Congress leaders Ajay Maken and Syed Naseer Hussain from Karnataka, and BJP member Samik Bhattacharya from West Bengal were among the others who took oath. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 04 April 2024 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( ED attaches ₹31-crore worth Ranchi land ‘belonging’ to Hemant Soren The [Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached land measuring 8.86 acres, allegedly owned by former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren in Ranchi]( as part of a money laundering investigation against him and his associates, the federal agency said on April 4. It had filed a charge sheet against the 48-year-old JMM leader and four others — Bhanu Pratap Prasad, Raj Kumar Pahan, Hilariyas Kachhap and Binod Singh — on March 30 before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court here. The court took cognisance of the prosecution complaint on April 04, the ED said in a statement. The ED requested the court for confiscation of the 8.86-acre plot. Soren was arrested in this case by the ED in January after he was questioned at his official residence in Ranchi by the ED. He had resigned as the chief minister before that. He is currently lodged in the Birsa Mundal central jail at Hotwar in Ranchi under judicial custody. The money laundering investigation stems from multiple FIRs registered by Jharkhand Police in land “scam” cases against several persons including government officials. The prime accused in the case is former Jharkhand revenue department official and custodian of government records, Prasad, who is alleged to have “misused” his official position by providing assistance to several persons including Soren in their activities linked to illegal occupation, acquisition and possession of proceeds of crime in form of landed properties, the agency said in a statement. “A racket of land mafia is active in Jharkhand which used to forge the land records in Ranchi,” it claimed. Probe found, the ED said, the ownership records of lands have also been “forged” to extend favours to the said land mafia and subsequently, on the basis of forged land records, such land parcels are sold to other persons. “Original land records of ownerships are either tampered or concealed to facilitate unlawful acquisition, possession and use of such properties,” it said. Prasad, the ED said in its charge sheet, was a member of a syndicate which was involved in acquiring lands by fraudulent means which included tampering with original government registers, falsification of government records and manufacturing fake documents. The land that is alleged to have been acquired by Soren is about 8.86 acre in size and located at Baragain Anchal, Bariyatu Road in Ranchi. It has been valued at ₹31,07,02,480 as per urban residential property rate of ₹3,50,680 per decimal, the ED charge sheet, accessed by PTI, said. The agency said Soren was in “possession” of this immovable asset since 2010-11. The agency claimed Soren and Prasad were “knowingly” a party in the activities connected with acquisition, possession, concealment and use of proceeds of crime as well as projecting the said proceeds of crime (8.86 acres land) as untainted property. Accused Pahan, Kachhap and Singh “knowingly assisted” Soren in his activities connected with the proceeds of crime. Soren, in his statement to the ED, denied having any link to the said property and said he had no relation with Prasad. The ED said during its searches at a residential house “under use and control” of Soren in Delhi on January 29, cash worth ₹36.34 lakh, a BMW Luxury car and incriminating documents were seized. It said Soren said in his statement given to the ED has said that he used this car on the same day and the agency claimed the former CM purchased it by personally visiting the vehicle showroom. It said 16 people were arrested by it in the case including IAS officer and former Ranchi DC Chhavi Ranjan, Amit Kumar Agarwal and Prem Prakash. Coal India among top three CO2 emitting companies in the world: Report “The vast majority of planet-warming carbondioxide emissions since 2016 can be traced to a group of just 57 fossil fuels and cement producers,” researchers said on April 4. “From 2016 to 2022, the 57 entities including nation-states, state-owned firms and investor-owned companies produced 80% of the world’s CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and cement production,” said the Carbon Majors report by non-profit think tank InfluenceMap. “The world’s top three CO2-emitting companies in the period were state-owned oil firm Saudi Aramco, Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom and state-owned producer Coal India,” the report said. Saudi Aramco, Coal India and Gazprom did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The report found most companies had expanded their fossil fuel production since 2015, the year when nearly all countries signed the U.N. Paris Agreement, committing to take action to curb climate change. Since then, while many governments and companies have set tougher emissions targets and rapidly expanded renewable energy, they have also produced and burned more fossil fuels, causing emissions to rise. “Global energy-related CO2 emissions hit a record high last year,” the International Energy Agency has said. InfluenceMap said its findings showed that a relatively small group of emitters were responsible for the bulk of ongoing CO2 emissions, and it aimed to increase transparency around which governments and companies were causing climate change. “It can be used in a variety of cases, ranging from legal processes seeking to hold these producers to account for climate damages, or it can be used by academics in quantifying their contributions, or by campaign groups, or even by investors,” InfluenceMap Programme Manager Daan Van Acker said of the report. A previous edition of the Carbon Majors database was cited last month in a legal case brought by a Belgian farmer against French oil and gas company TotalEnergies. The farmer argued that as one of the world’s top 20 CO2-emitting companies, TotalEnergies was partly responsible for damage to his operations from extreme weather. The database was first launched in 2013 by the non-profit research organisation Climate Accountability Institute. It combines companies’ self-reported data on coal, oil and gas production with sources like the U.S. Energy Information Administration, national mining associations and other industry data. Carroll Muffett, CEO of the non-profit Center for International Environmental Law said the database would improve investors’ and litigators’ ability to track companies’ actions over time. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee says one can trust snake but not BJP West Bengal Chief Minister [Mamata Banerjee on April 4 accused the BJP of not following the Model Code of Conduct]( (MCC) for the Lok Sabha polls and asserted that a poisonous snake can be trusted but not the saffron camp. Addressing a rally in Cooch Behar, Banerjee alleged that the Central investigating agencies, Border Security Force (BSF) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) are working at the behest of the BJP and urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to look into it and ensure a level playing field for all political parties. “The BJP is asking you to enrol names for Awas Yojna again. Why will the names be enrolled again? They want further enrolment so that they can chuck it off. You can trust a poisonous snake; you can even pet it, but you can never trust the BJP... The BJP is destroying the country,” she said. Asserting that her party TMC will not bow before the “threat of Central agencies”, Banerjee urged women in Cooch Behar to file police complaints if “there are instances of BSF torturing locals” ahead of the polls, scheduled for April 19. “The Central investigating agencies, the NIA, Income Tax, BSF and CISF are working for the BJP. We will humbly plead to the Election Commission to ensure a level playing field as central agencies are working for the saffron camp. The BJP is violating the MCC,” she said. The BJP only “follows the principle of one nation, one party”, Banerjee claimed. While reiterating her refusal to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act in the State, Banerjee said that applying for CAA would designate an applicant as a foreigner and advised against it. Dubbing the BJP a “jumla” party, the TMC supremo accused the saffron party of “peddling lies” regarding the CAA. “The CAA is a trap to turn legal citizens into foreigners. Once you (BJP) implement CAA, NRC will follow. We would allow neither CAA nor NRC in West Bengal. If you apply, you will be designated as foreigners,” Banerjee said. She questioned the inclusion of a member from the Census Department in the CAA committee, stating, “Why has such a person been included if they have no plan for the NRC in the future? The CAA is the head and the NRC is the tail.” Banerjee criticised the Opposition bloc INDIA partners — the CPI (M) and the Congress — for “joining hands with the BJP” in West Bengal and asserted that the Opposition front ceases to exist in the State. “There is no INDIA bloc in West Bengal. I played a key role in the formation of the Opposition bloc INDIA. Even the name of the alliance was given by me. But the CPI (M) and the Congress are working for the BJP in Bengal,” she alleged. Banerjee said, “Don’t cast your vote in favour of the Congress and the CPI (M) if you want to defeat the BJP. Not a single vote to CPI (M) and Congress and their ally, a minority party (ISF). This minority party (ISF) is just like AIMIM. They are working to spilt the minority votes and help the BJP,” she added. Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh resigns, joins BJP [Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh resigned from all posts and membership of the party on April 4]( saying that neither can he raise anti-Sanatan slogans nor abuse ‘wealth creators’ day in and day out. Hours later, he joined the BJP in the presence of party’s national general secretary Vinod Tawde. Vallabh shared his resignation letter written to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on social media platform X. He said he was not feeling comfortable with the directionless way in which the party was moving forward. Vallabh said, “I can neither raise anti-Sanatan slogans nor abuse wealth creators day in and day out. Therefore, I resign from all posts and primary membership of the party.” He had not been attending television programmes on behalf of the party for several months and had not held any press conference for a long time. In his resignation letter, Vallabh said, “When I joined Congress, I believed that Congress is the oldest party in the country which respects youth and intellectual people and their ideas. But for some time, I felt that the party was not able to adjust with the youth having new ideas.” Vallabh claimed the Congress is completely cut off from the ground and is unable to understand the aspirations of a new India, due to which the party is neither coming to power nor is able to play the role of a strong opposition. He also said that he was upset with the stance taken by the party of staying away from the Ram Mandir ‘Pran Pratishtha’ programme in Ayodhya. Poll roundup - [Rahul Gandhi, who is seeking a successive term from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, has declared assets of more than ₹20 crore in his nomination papers](. Gandhi filed the papers before the returning officer on April 3. He has declared movable assets to the tune of ₹9,24,59,264 and showed the purchasing price of his self-acquired immovable assets as being worth ₹7,93,03,977 in the affidavit. The affidavit also showed that the current market value of the self-acquired immovable assets as ₹9,04,89,000 and the value of the inherited assets as ₹2,10,13,598. Gandhi has claimed that he has a liability of ₹49,79,184. In the affidavit, Gandhi has declared that he has ₹55,000 as cash in hand. In the last election, he had declared total assets worth ₹15,88,77,083 whereas in 2014, it was ₹9.4 crore. - The [Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) rejected the Social Democratic Party of India’s (SDPI) support]( in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The UDF had drawn intense flak from the CPI(M) and BJP for “soliciting” the support of an allegedly religious fundamentalist organisation that supposedly “bore the stigma” of being the political front of the proscribed PFI. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) acting president M. M. Hassan and Leader of the Opposition V. D. Satheesan sought to end the controversy by stating that the UDF leadership in Wayanad on Wednesday had categorically rejected the SDPI’s support. In Brief India ‘concerned’ by Israeli attack on Iranian embassy in Syria [India is concerned by the Israeli attack on the Iranian diplomatic premises in Syria on April 1]( the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement on April 4. “Distressed at the escalating tensions in West Asia and their potential to fuel further violence and instability”, New Delhi has urged all parties to avoid actions that go against “commonly accepted principles and norms of International Law”, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in his weekly media briefing. Israeli air strikes destroyed the Iranian embassy’s consular annex in Syria on April 1, killing and wounding everyone inside, Damascus said as Iranian state TV reported a Revolutionary Guards commander among the dead. Sonia Gandhi takes oath as Rajya Sabha member Congress leader [Sonia Gandhi on April 4, 2024, took oath as Rajya Sabha member](. This is her first stint in the upper house. She was elected from Rajasthan, on a seat that fell vacant after 91-year-old former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh completed his tenure on April 3rd. Thirteen other members were sworn in along with Gandhi, including the one-time Gandhi loyalist and former union minister R.P.N. Singh, who is now with the BJP. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Congress leaders Ajay Maken and Syed Naseer Hussain from Karnataka, and BJP member Samik Bhattacharya from West Bengal were among the others who took oath. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [Sign up for free]( Today’s Top Picks [[Will ‘retrieval’ of Katchatheevu solve the problems of Tamil fishermen? | In Focus podcast] Will ‘retrieval’ of Katchatheevu solve the problems of Tamil fishermen? | In Focus podcast]( [[Why did we not read Caribbean author Maryse Conde?] Why did we not read Caribbean author Maryse Conde?]( [[Capturing democracy on film: Cast and crew of ‘Girls State’ share their experience of building a state] Capturing democracy on film: Cast and crew of ‘Girls State’ share their experience of building a state]( [[Satire | Let’s make our own democracy index like North Korea] Satire | Let’s make our own democracy index like North Korea]( Copyright© 2024, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. If you are facing any trouble in viewing this newsletter, please [click here]( Manage your newsletter subscription preferences [here]( If you do not wish to receive such emails [go here](