'Untraceable' Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren appears in Ranchi, chairs meeting of ruling alliance MLAs

NEW DELHI: Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, who could not be traced by the Enforcement Directorate on Monday , appeared in Ranchi on Tuesday ending all speculations about his whereabouts. Hemant Soren held a meeting of MLAs of the ruling coalition before emerging out of his official residence. Interestingly, Hemant Soren's wife, Kalpana, was also present in the meeting.There are reports about a change of leadership in the state amid speculations that Hemant Soren could be arrested by the ED.

An ED team had gone to Soren's Delhi residence on Monday to question the chief minister in connection with money laundering probe linked to an alleged land scam. However, the ED officials could not locate the chief minister following which it was reported that Hemant Soren had gone "missing." Hours after news about Soren being missing was reported, the chief minister's office informed the ED that Soren will be available for questioning on Wednesday at the chief minister's residence in Ranchi.

Earlier today, an ED team seized two luxury cars from the Delhi residence of the Jharkhand chief minister. Sources said, the ED officials also recovered cash worth Rs 36 lakh from his Delhi residence.
Soren has alleged that ED questioning him at this time was more political and was meant to disrupt the functioning of his government.
"You are well aware that the Budget Session of the Legislative Assembly will be held between 2nd and 29th February 2024 and the undersigned will be pre-occupied with preparations for the same apart from other prior scheduled official engagements," the letter written by Soren to ED's Ranchi office said.
"In these circumstances, your insistence to record a further statement of the undersigned on or before 31 January 2024 reeks of malice and reveals your political agenda to disrupt the functioning of the State Government and prevent an elected representative of the people from discharging his official duties," Soren's letter to the ED said.
(With inputs from agencies)