Barely 48 hours after quizzing Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday again summoned him for questioning related to the alleged money laundering charges in a land scam case.

ED sources said the letter had been sent on Monday evening asking Soren to appear for questioning between January 27 and 31.

The letter has also given the chief minister the option of answering the ED questions either at his official residence in Kanke Road or at the ED office on Hinoo Road in Ranchi.

Incidentally, ED officials had interrogated Soren for over seven hours on Saturday at his official residence in a separate closed room.

Soren had earlier been quizzed by the ED in November 2022 in Ranchi in connection with an illegal mining case for nearly nine hours.

“ED officials had prepared a list of 50 questions out of which nearly 30 have been asked and the remaining questions need to be asked to the chief minister based on documentary evidence in the land scam case on change of ownership of an army land in Ranchi,” an ED source said.

Soren had agreed to interrogation after eight summons and asked the ED to record his statement on January 20 afternoon.

There were reports that the ED had written a letter to Soren on Saturday and given him five days (January 16-20) to record his statement and was asked to inform the time and place for recording his statement within two days.

Earlier this year, Soren in reply to the seventh summons of the ED had criticised the federal agency terming its probe as “baseless and biased”.

The letter of the chief minister also accused the ED of engaging in a media trial against him and hinted at taking legal recourse against the summons.

After the Saturday questioning, Soren while meeting party supporters near his residence had alleged the questioning as a conspiracy by the BJP-led Centre to disturb his government.

“Since the formation of our government, they (read the BJP) is hatching a conspiracy. We have never bowed down or been afraid. I want to tell you Hemant Soren will always stand with each of the party workers. I promise you. We will continue to work for the state’s development by shredding their conspiracies to pieces. It is time to put a final nail in their coffin. If need arose I will take bullets but will not bow down,” said Soren.

“Under no circumstances, we will let the state fall into the hands of such conspirators. When these people are unable to deal with us politically they are trying to disturb the government from behind. But the time has come to give a befitting reply to such people,” said Soren.