IT department denies plans to probe Bollywood actresses

Ranchi: The Income Tax (IT) department Tuesday denied that there were any plans to interrogate Bollywood actresses Koena Mitra and Celina Jaitley for receiving money from former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda who is at the centre of a Rs 2,500 crore money laundering scam. "We are unable to understand from which source media is saying that we are planning to interrogate the Bollywood actresses. At present, we are focusing on transactions of money and how money was taken outside the country," Director, IT Investigation, Ujjwal Chaudhary said.

According to sources, the focus of investigation is on Koda, and his associates Vinod Sinha, Sanjay Chaudhary and some other people. According to reports in sections of the media, Mitra and Jaitley were to be interrogated by IT officials for taking money from Koda. Mitra was appointed as brand ambassador of Jharkhand in January 2008 and she was allegedly paid Rs 50 lakh and Rs 10 lakh was paid to Jaitley. "I belong to neighbouring West Bengal and love the culture of Jharkhand," Mitra had told reporters in Ranchi after becoming the brand ambassador of Jharkhand. She was later removed after Koda faced criticism over the move. Mitra has reportedly admitted to accepting Rs 3.10 lakh in cash for promotion of Jharkhand. IANS