J'khand govt warns of legal action if CM is linked to raids in news items

The Jharkhand government has warned media houses of taking legal action for news reports linking Chief Minister Hemant Soren's name to a person against whom ED conducted raids in multiple locations and recovered two AK series rifles.

The Enforcement Directorate raided various places in Jharkhand and several other states on Wednesday and recovered the rifles from a house here as part of an ongoing money-laundering investigation into alleged illegal mining in the state.

However, the Ranchi police later said that the weapons belonged to the force and two constables were suspended in this connection.

"Certain news reports by media platforms including a few national TV channels point to a misleading ploy and attempt to intentionally link the Chief Minister of Jharkhand to a private individual" against whom the ED raids were conducted, the CM's secretariat said in a statement on Wednesday.

Describing this as unfortunate and condemnable, the statement said if the state government comes across any further malicious reports and tweets/ digital posts (by media platforms), it will be dealt with as per due legal provisions.

It said the Jharkhand government has provided cooperation to all investigations undertaken by central agencies and it supports freedom of the press.

The rifles were found in a house in Ranchi, owned by a person named Prem Prakash.

As it was raining, two constables while returning from duty on August 23 had left their weapons with Prakash's staff whom they know, Ranchi police said.

The two constables were suspended with immediate effect, police said.

The ED searches were carried out after fresh information came to the fore following the questioning of two persons arrested earlier in the case.