Ranchi, March 21 (PTI) A special PMLA court on Thursday extended the judicial custody of former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren till April 4 in connection with a money laundering case related to an alleged land scam, an official said.

Soren, the executive president of the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), was in judicial custody until March 21.

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Soren appeared before the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court via video conferencing, officials said.

Previously, on February 15, the PMLA court had remanded him to judicial custody until February 22, which was later extended until March 21.

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Following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 31, shortly after his resignation as chief minister, Soren has been held in the Birsa Munda Central Jail in Hotwar, Ranchi.

Initially, the court granted the ED five days of custody for Soren, which was later extended twice, totaling seven days. His arrest followed a seven-hour interrogation by the central agency in connection with the money laundering case.

In response to her husband's incarceration, Kalpana Soren, who recently joined the JMM, accused the opposition of conspiring against him.

She expressed confidence that the people of the state would not yield and would deliver a resounding political response through their votes in the future.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)