An activist of the JMM student wing jumps over the burning effigies of BJP leaders A.B. Vajpayee and .K. Advani in Ranchi on Tuesday. Picture by Prashant Mitra

July 20: The Sibu Soren stand-off raced towards a dramatic phase with a Jharkhand police team flying to Delhi to execute the arrest warrant on the Union minister who has apparently applied for leave from the Lok Sabha.

The purported leave application — mandatory if ministers are supposed to answer questions in the House — and the fact that Soren did not appear in public today raised questions about the minister’s whereabouts.

The element of intrigue thickened with Jharkhand chief minister Arjun Munda saying that Soren was reportedly out of reach but state government officials are capable of finding him.

Soren’s party colleague Sunil Mahto denied that the minister has applied for leave. But he said Soren is not at his Delhi home and “might be staying in a Janpath Hotel”. Another JMM leader said Soren is in Uttar Pradesh to attend a “political programme”.

The BJP-led Jharkhand government despatched a two-member team to enforce the warrant issued against the coal minister in connection with the Chirudih massacre of 1975.

State home secretary Jyoti Bhramar Tubid denied that police officers have been rushed to the national capital. But a senior police officer said special branch superintendent of police Neeraj Sinha and superintendent of police, CID, Umesh Singh left for New Delhi today.

Sources said since Parliament is in session, the two police officers would seek the permission of the Lok Sabha Speaker to arrest Soren and produce him before the Jamtara court, which issued the order.

In case the Union minister continues to evade the police, the officers will paste a copy of the warrant on the gate of his official residence in Delhi in the presence of independent witnesses, the sources added. The warrant is now alive and it makes mandatory on Soren to surrender before the court by August 16.

Asked about the fate of Soren, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh replied in Guwahati with a cryptic “you will know in due course of time”, but central coalition leader Congress ruled out the resignation of the minister.

JMM leaders have said Soren will not resign till Jharkhand High Court decides on a petition he has moved to quash the warrant.

The petition could not be mentioned in the high court today for early hearing due to delay in getting a certified copy of arrest warrant. Soren’s advocate R.S. Mazumdar said the case would be mentioned tomorrow at 10.30 am.

The issued rocked Parliament today with the NDA disrupting proceedings and walking out of the Lok Sabha.

Clash threat

Tension is mounting among the ranks of the JMM over the alleged “witch-hunting” of Soren by the BJP-led government in Jharkhand.

Security officials in Ranchi feel that if the situation is not defused soon, clashes between JMM and BJP supporters cannot be ruled out.

JMM leaders are of the view that it would be difficult to remove suspicion among the grassroots support base that the BJP-led government had nothing to do with the timing of the controversy.

Realising that the matter is sub judice, the JMM is waiting for Jharkhand High Court’s verdict on the bail application moved by Soren.

“We are waiting for the high court’s decision. In case it goes against our leader, we will come out to the streets to take on the NDA and oppose its political vendetta. For the time being, we are keeping a low profile. But the fact that tension is simmering cannot be denied,” said a party leader.