Five months after he was arrested in connection with alleged money laundering through land scam, the Jharkhand High Court granted bail to former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren on Friday.

On January 31, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) detained the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)  leader after he resigned as Jharkhand chief minister. Soon after Soren’s arrest, then state Transport Minister Champai Soren replaced him as the chief minister.

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Hemant Soren had accused the BJP of treating Adivasis and tribal people as untouchable. Denying the corruption allegations, the former chief minister had stated that he would quit politics if found guilty in the case. He also accused the central government of political vendetta.

He was arrested after reportedly being evasive in his replies during questioning.

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The former chief minister allegedly occupied 8.5 acres of land illegally in Jharkhand in cahoots with a revenue sub-inspector in Ranchi. The central agency reportedly found evidence in the case while investigating a number of irregularities in several land-grabbing allegations. The probe agency also accused revenue sub-inspector Bhanu Pratap Prasad of working in collaboration with the former chief minister and others to illegally occupy properties with forged documents. Among the 25 arrested in the case included Bhanu Pratap Prasad.