Champai Soren, former Chief Minister of Jharkhand and a prominent figure within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been placed under house arrest at his residence in Lalpur, Ranchi. The City Deputy Superintendent of Police (City DSP) was responsible for the action.
The reason for the house arrest stems from Soren’s planned action to plow the land in Nagri on Sunday. This land is the subject of a dispute regarding the proposed Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences-2 (RIMS-2). A protest was planned at the site, and a large number of people were expected to attend. However, Soren was prevented from leaving his home.
Soren shared the information about his house arrest on his social media platform X, stating: “To prevent me from raising the voice of the tribal/original farmers of Nagri, the Jharkhand government has put me under house arrest this morning.”
Soren, a BJP leader, intended to protest against the RIMS-2 land acquisition in Nagri under the ‘Hal Joto, Ropa Ropo’ program by plowing the land. Other senior BJP leaders are also being restricted from accessing the RIMS-2 land.
The administration has taken precautions, deploying police in Nagri and its surrounding areas to prevent any disturbance, confirmed by City DSP K.V. Raman.
There is discontent among the local villagers due to restrictions on farming the land marked for RIMS-2 in Nagri, and the erection of barbed wire fencing. The ‘Nagri Land Bachao Sangharsh Samiti’ (Save Nagri Land Struggle Committee) has been preparing for a protest for several days. The committee has invited farmers from neighboring villages to join.
Local residents argue that the land was acquired a long time ago. They assert that since no construction has taken place, the farmers have a legitimate claim to the land.