The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is likely to send another letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seeking its permission to probe the allegations of corruption regarding sale of cars imported through diplomatic channel.

According to sources, Finance Minister S A M S Kibria called NBR Chairman Zakir Ahmed Khan to his office yesterday and asked him to pursue the matter seriously.

However, when contacted over telephone last night, the NBR Chairman denied having any discussion with the Finance Minister in this regard. He said, "I met the Finance Minister in a meeting yesterday. But we did not discuss anything in this regard."

When asked whether he would send another letter to the foreign ministry, Khan said the Director General of Customs Intelligence Department has been given the responsibility to pursue the matter.

The Finance Minister's initiative followed a report in The Daily Star yesterday that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not "properly handle" a letter from the NBR, seeking permission for a probe into the matter.

The sources however claimed that the NBR chairman informed the Finance Minister that he would send another letter to the foreign ministry.

NBR officials suspect that a significant number of cars imported for foreign diplomats without payment of duty were sold to local citizens, causing huge revenue loss to the government. They estimated a revenue loss of around Tk 50 crore in last five years.

They said a section of foreign ministry officials might be involved in it.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issues duty exemption certificate for import of car for foreign diplomats and also clearance certificate if the car is sold to a local citizen.