NEW DELHI: Hemant Soren, the chief minister of Jharkhand, on Thursday sought three weeks' time to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED)  in connection with the Prevention of Money Laundering case pertaining to illicit mining and extortion in Jharkhand and Bihar.

Soren allegedly requested time to attend a few programmes in a letter to the investigation agency, the sources in the ED said.

On Thursday, the ED invited Soren to join the probe, but he chose to forego the interrogation.

In order to make the proper security measures before to his questioning, the federal agency had also sent a letter to the Commissioner of the Jharkhand Police.

The sources said that Mr. Soren reportedly exploited his position to award a lease and that we discovered a check that was signed by him during the most recent raid.

Recently, the ED brought charges against Pankaj Mishra, Bachhu Yadav, and Prem Prakash--all alleged to be connected to the Jharkhand chief minister--before a special Ranchi court.

The chargesheet has already been acknowledged by the court.

47 searches were carried out across India as part of the investigation into the case, and as a consequence, cash worth Rs 5.34 crore, bank balances worth Rs 13.32 crore, and the inland vessel MV Infralink III, registered in India, were all seized. The investigation agency reported the confiscation of the No. WB 1809, five stone crushers, two Hyva vehicles, as well as two AK-47 assault rifles and incriminating documents.

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