Ranchi: The Enforcement Directorate has not agreed to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's request for rescheduling the summons issued to him for questioning on November 17 here in a money laundering case linked to alleged illegal mining in the state, official sources said on Tuesday.
The JMM leader had asked the ED to advance the date of appearance to November 16, which has not been agreed to by the agency, they said.
Soren, 47, was initially summoned by the federal probe agency on November 3, but he did not depose citing official engagements.
He had then sought a three-week deferment of the summons. The CM has been asked to appear at the regional office of the ED in state capital Ranchi for questioning and recording of his statement under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The agency has arrested Soren's political aide Pankaj Mishra and two others - local muscleman Bachhu Yadav and Prem Prakash - in this case.
The agency has said it has "identified" proceeds of crime relating to illegal mining in the state to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore till now. After the first summons was issued, Soren had dared the agency to arrest him.
"The ED has summoned me following a conspiracy. Come and arrest me if I have committed a crime instead of sending summonses for questioning.
"I am neither afraid nor worried. Rather I am emerging stronger. If people of Jharkhand wish, opponents will not find a place to hide," he had said.