Ranchi/IBNS: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday appeared in the state capital Ranchi amid speculations over his whereabouts following Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials' bid to reach out to him for questioning in connection with a money laundering scam, media reports said.

Soren was seen going out of his official residence after holding a meeting of the ruling coalition MLAs.

Interestingly, the Chief Minister's wife, Kalpana, was also present in the meeting giving fuel to the reports claiming there could be a change in leadership of the state amid speculations over Soren's arrest.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted a raid at Soren's Delhi residence and seized some documents and his BMW car.

Soren was not at home during the search operations.

As per reports, Soren travelled from Ranchi to Delhi in a chartered plane, which was parked at the city Airport.

However, the officials, who wanted to record Soren's statement, were left in the dark on his whereabouts.

So far, the Chief Minister has evaded seven summons for questioning and reports said he is preparing to challenge the ED's summons in court.

The investigating team visited Jharkhand Bhawan and his father's residence at Motilal Nehru Marg. But Soren could not be found there either.

A note from the Chief Minister's Office, however, reached the ED, informing them that they could interrogate him at 1 pm on Jan 31 -- the last day of the time allotted to him -- at his home in Ranchi.

Soren has claimed that he is being targeted as a part of a huge conspiracy.

"A conspiracy was hatched against me, but the final nail in the coffin of the conspirators will be put by us... We will not be scared, your leader will face the bullets first and keep your morale high," Soren had told the workers of his Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.

The case involves "huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia" in Jharkhand, as per the central agency.