Bhubaneshwar:
In a setback to Odisha Chief Minister, CBI is likely to question Naveen Patnaik in connection with alleged irregularities in allocation of coal block to Hindalco as he had written a letter to the Coal Ministry after application of the Aditya Birla company was rejected in 2005.
CBI sources said as its officials were scrutinising the documents they found a letter written by Patnaik requesting for a relook and reverse rejection of Hindalco's application for Talabira II block in Odisha.
CBI said while no final decision has been taken as to who all would be questioned, the sources said the Chief Minister would be questioned only if need was felt to seek his views on the reasons for recommending coal blocks to Hindalco.
Meanwhile, Income Tax department on Thursday seized Rs 25 crore that was recovered by CBI during searches at the office of Hindalco Industries, which has been booked by the agency for alleged corruption in coal block allocations.
"The cash has been seized under Income Tax laws and further proceedings to check the source of the money are on," an official said.
A Hindalco spokesperson, however, said the company is checking the details.
I-T will now ask the company to produce documents and validate the source of the recovered cash, sources said.
