Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s whereabouts created a great concern in the offices of the Enforcement Directorate today as the agency went to his Delhi residence for a search. Mr Soren was not at home and the agency, after conducting a search, seized some documents and his BMW car that they claimed were bought using illegal funds. But the officials, who wanted to record Mr Soren’s statement, were left in the dark on his whereabouts.

So far, the Chief Minister has evaded seven summons for questioning and sources said he is prepping to challenge the ED’s summons in court.

The investigating team went to Jharkhand Bhawan and his father’s residence at Motilal Nehru Marg. But Mr Soren could not be found there either. His chartered plane remained parked at the Delhi Airport.

Some officers of the agency were camping outside his house till late night.

A mail from the Chief Minister’s Office, however, reached the ED, informing them that they can interrogate him at 1 pm on January 31 — the last day of the time allotted to him — at his home in Ranchi.

Read | Hemant Soren Gives Date To Probe Agency For Questioning In Land Scam Case

Sources said Mr Soren is getting ready to move the Supreme Court tomorrow to challenge the ED’s summons. He was last questioned in Ranchi on January 20 in the money laundering case in connection with an alleged land deal.

Under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act or PMLA, a person’s statement has to be recorded before any arrest, Mr Soren can be arrested if his compliance is in doubt, sources said.

The Rs 600-crore scam involves a “huge racket” to change of ownership of government land, which was subsequently sold to builders, the agency has alleged.

Read | Probe Agency Team Visits Hemant Soren’s Delhi Home In Case Linked To Land Scam

The agency has so far arrested 14 people in the case, including 2011-batch IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan who served as the director of the state Social Welfare Department and deputy commissioner of Ranchi.

Mr Soren has claimed that he is the target of a huge conspiracy.

“A conspiracy was hatched against me, but the final nail in the coffin of the conspirators will be put by us… We will not be scared, your leader will face the bullets first and keep your morale high,” he told the workers of his Jharkhand Mukti Morcha last week.

The Chandigarh mayoral election will take place today, pitting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against an alliance of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress. In what will be the first clash between the NDA and the INDIA bloc before the general elections, an extensive police deployment has been arranged, involving around 800 police personnel and additional forces from the paramilitary, with a three-layer barricade securing the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. 

Originally scheduled for January 18, the mayoral polls were postponed to February 6 by the Chandigarh administration due to the illness of the presiding officer Anil Masih. The decision to defer was also attributed to the prevailing law-and-order situation. However, this move was met with protests from Congress and AAP councillors. Mr Masih, who, despite apparent health issues, was reappointed as the presiding authority.

The Chandigarh Press Club has also appealed to the Centre to permit media coverage of the voting process, despite an initial denial of access to journalists.

In the 35-member Municipal Corporation House, the AAP and Congress alliance hold a combined total of 20 votes, posing a formidable challenge to the BJP’s 15 votes, which includes 14 councillors and the additional vote of MP Kirron Kher. The magic number for victory stands at 19.

The election process has not been without its share of legal hurdles. The Punjab and Haryana High Court, in its January 24 order, directed the Chandigarh administration to conduct the mayoral polls today, quashing the earlier postponement deemed “unreasonable, unjustified, and arbitrary.” The court stressed the need for free and fair elections, prohibiting councillors from being accompanied by supporters or security personnel from other states.

All parties involved have adopted a cautious approach, keeping their councillors on the move before the polling day.

The AAP-Congress alliance has strategically nominated candidates for the various positions. Kuldeep Kumar, representing the AAP, is contesting for the mayoral post, while the Congress is fielding candidates for senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.

The AAP-Congress alliance seeks to break the BJP’s eight-year rule 

Voting is set to begin at 10 am. The Congress abstained from voting in 2022 and 2023, resulting in the BJP’s victory in those polls. The election process for the mayor’s position is conducted through a secret ballot.

In this year’s elections, the mayor’s seat is reserved for the Scheduled Caste category, with Manoj Sonkar representing the BJP and Mr Kumar from the AAP as the contenders. The senior deputy mayor post will see Kuljeet Sandhu of the BJP facing off against Congress’s Gurpreet Singh Gabi, while the deputy mayor position will be contested between BJP’s Rajinder Sharma and Congress’s Nirmala Devi.

Indian warship INS Sumitra rescued 19 Pakistani sailors after pirates hijacked their fishing vessel off the east coast of Somalia on Monday. This was the second anti-piracy operation carried out by the warship within 36 hours, the Indian Navy said.

Iranian-flagged fishing vessel FV Al Naeemi was boarded by 11 armed pirates who took the 19 crew members – all Pakistanis – hostage. The Navy warship intercepted the fishing vessel and coerced the pirates to release the hostages.

#INSSumitra Carries out 2nd Successful #AntiPiracy Ops – Rescuing 19 Crew members & Vessel from Somali Pirates.
Having thwarted the Piracy attempt on FV Iman, the warship has carried out another successful anti-piracy ops off the East Coast of Somalia, rescuing Fishing Vessel Al… https://t.co/QZz9bCihaU pic.twitter.com/6AonHw51KX

— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) January 30, 2024

“Responding swiftly to the developing situation Sumitra intercepted the FV (fishing vessel) on PM 29 Jan 24 and through coercive posturing and effective deployment of her integral helo and boats compelled the safe release of the crew and the vessel,” the Navy said in a statement

The Navy personnel boarded the vessel subsequently to check on the well-being of the crew.

The swift rescue comes a day after INS Sumitra responded to an SOS call by another Iranian-flagged fishing vessel, FV Iman, which was hijacked by Somali pirates. The vessel’s 17 Iranian crew members were rescued by the Navy.

“INS Sumitra, over the course of less than 36 hours, through swift, persistent and relentless efforts has rescued two hijacked Fishing Vessels along with 36 Crew (17 Iranian and 19 Pakistani) in Southern Arabian Sea approximately 850 nm West of Kochi, and prevented misuse of these Fishing Vessels as Mother Ships for further acts of Piracy on Merchant Vessels,” the official statement said.

INS Sumitra is Indian Navy’s indigenous offshore patrol vessel that has been deployed for anti-piracy and maritime security operations in east of Somalia and Gulf of Aden. 

Earlier, Indian Navy’s guided missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam, which is currently on an anti-piracy mission, had helped extinguish a massive blaze onboard a merchant vessel after it was struck by a missile in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday night .