CBI intensifies search in coal scam probe

The CBI on Tuesday registered cases against five companies and unknown government officials as part of its probe into alleged irregularities in allocation of coal blocks and carried out searches across 10 cities.

According to reports, five FIRs have been filed against five companies and unknown government officials for alleged cheating. The agency sleuths were also conducting searches at 30 places in ten cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Patna, Hyderabad, Dhanbad and Nagpur.

The CBI had also examined the past areas of operation of some of the companies which were allotted coal blocks in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.
The agency has already questioned senior bureaucrats who were overseeing allocation of coal blocks during the 2005-09 period. Government offices are also being searched.

-Siva@sakshipost