Agartala, Aug 19: A ruling BJP MLA in Tripura, Arun Chandra Bhowmik, has stoked a controversy by allegedly saying that his party activists should counter Trinamool Congress leaders in Talibani style if they land at Agartala airport.

The saffron camp, however, said it is the MLA's version and not that of the BJP.

With an eye on the Tripura Assembly polls in 2023, TMC leaders, including its national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, are visiting the hilly state frequently to try and build a base and an organisation for the party which till now has been confined to West Bengal.

The TMC is trying to harm the Biplab Kumar Deb-led government in Tripura that came to power by ending the 25-year-long Communist rule. All these are happening due to the instigation of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the legislator who represents Belonia constituency said.

Bhowmik made this remark Wednesday during a felicitation ceremony for newly inducted Union minister of state for Social Justice and Empowerment, Pratima Bhowmik at Belonia old town hall in South Tripura district.

I appeal to all of you that we need to attack them in Talibani style. We need to attack them once they land at the airport here. We will protect our government led by Biplab Kumar Deb with every drop of blood, he said.

A video clip of his comments went viral on the social media inviting wide criticism.

Reacting to his remarks, Tripura TMC leader Subal Bhowmik demanded the BJP MLA's arrest.

West Bengal TMC leaders were harassed last night at a private hotel in Agartala where they are staying. The incident happened after the MLA made this provocative remark, he claimed.

BJP Tripura chief spokesperson Subrata Chakraborty said the comment made by Bhowmik is exclusively his own and the party does not take any responsibility.

It is entirely his responsibility. This is not the culture of BJP, Chakraborty told PTI.

When contacted, Bhowmik said he had made the remark as an example to justify how to counter the TMC seriously.

I used the word 'Talibani' to make it clear that the way the Trinamool Congress is trying to harm the BJP government in Tripura, it needs a strong reaction. Use of the word Talibani' might have sent a wrong message, but my intention was just to narrate how to counter them seriously, the BJP legislator said.

Clashes between the TMC and the BJP have been reported from Tripura over the past few weeks.

On his first visit, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee's convoy was allegedly attacked by BJP workers in Tripura on August 3.

The TMC had claimed that two of its youth leaders from West Bengal sustained injuries after being attacked by BJP workers in Dhalai district of the north-eastern state on August 7.

The TMC alleged that two of its MPs -Dola Sen and Aparupa Poddar were attacked twice by BJP supporters in South Tripura district on Independence Day.

The saffron party, however, has denied the allegations, saying the TMC posed no threat to them in the state.

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Mumbai, Jul 26 (PTI): Enforcement Directorate searches against the companies of Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani in Mumbai continued for the third day on Saturday with the agency recovering a number of documents and computer peripherals from multiple locations, official sources said.

The raids were launched on July 24 by the federal probe agency as part of an alleged Rs 3,000 crore worth bank loan fraud-linked money laundering case apart from multiple other allegations of financial irregularities with crores of rupees by certain companies.

The searches, being conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), are continuing at some locations out of the more than 35 premises that were covered in Mumbai since Thursday, the sources said.

These premises belong to 50 companies and 25 people including a number of executives of the Anil Ambani Group companies.

ED sources had said the investigation primarily pertains to allegations of illegal loan diversion of around Rs 3,000 crore, given by the Yes Bank to the group companies of Ambani between 2017-2019.

Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure, two companies of the group, had on Thursday informed the stock exchanges saying while they acknowledge the action, the raids had "absolutely no impact" on their business operations, financial performance, shareholders, employees, or any other stakeholders.

"The media reports appear to pertain to allegations concerning transactions of Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM) or Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL) which are over 10 years old," the companies had said.

The ED, the sources had said, has found that just before the loan was granted, Yes Bank promoters "received" money in their concerns.

The agency is investigating this nexus of "bribe" and the loan.

The sources said the ED is also probing allegations of "gross violations" in Yes Bank loan approvals to these companies including charges like back-dated credit approval memorandums, investments proposed without any due diligence/credit analysis in violation of banks credit policy.

The loans are alleged to have been "diverted" to many group companies and "shell" (bogus) companies by the entities involved.

The agency is also looking at some instances of loans given to entities with weak financials, lack of proper documentation of loans and due diligence, borrowers having common addresses and common directors in their companies etc., the sources said.

The money laundering case stems from at least two CBI FIRs and reports shared by the National Housing Bank, SEBI, National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) and Bank of Baroda with the ED, they said.

These reports indicate, the sources said, that there was a "well-planned and thought after scheme" to divert or siphon off public money by cheating banks, shareholders, investors and other public institutions.

The Union government had informed the Parliament recently that the State Bank of India has classified RCOM along with Ambani as 'fraud' and was also in the process of lodging a complaint with the CBI.

A bank loan "fraud" of more than Rs 1,050 crore between RCOM and Canara Bank is also under the scanner of the ED apart from some "undisclosed" foreign bank accounts and assets, the sources said.

Reliance Mutual fund is also stated to have invested Rs 2,850 crore in AT-1 bonds and a "quid pro quo" is suspected here by the agency.

Additional Tier 1 (AT-1) are perpetual bonds issued by banks to increase their capital base and they are riskier than traditional bonds having higher interest rates. An alleged loan fund diversion of about Rs 10,000 crore involving Reliance Infrastructure too is under the scanner of the agency.

A Sebi report on RHFL is also part of the ED probe.

The companies also said in their filings before the stock exchanges that Anil Ambani was not on the Board of either Reliance Power or Reliance Infrastructure and that they had no "business or financial linkage" to RCOM or RHFL.

Any action taken against RCOM or RHFL, the companies said, has no bearing or impact on the governance, management, or operations of either Reliance Power or Reliance Infrastructure.