ED arrests Reliance Power CFO in 'fake' bank guarantee-linked PMLA case
New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested the CFO of industrialist Anil Ambani's group company Reliance Power in a money laundering case linked to issuance of an alleged fake bank guarantee of Rs 68 crore, official sources said on Saturday.
Ashok Pal was taken into custody on Friday night under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after he was questioned by the agency, they said.
He will be produced before a special court on Saturday and the agency will seek his remand for custodial interrogation, according to the sources.
The case pertains to a bank guarantee of Rs 68.2 crore submitted to the Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) on behalf of Reliance NU BESS Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Power, which was found to be "fake".
The company was formerly known as Maharashtra Energy Generation Limited.
The accused company, which allegedly operated a racket for providing "fake" bank guarantees for business groups, was identified by the ED as Odisha-based Biswal Tradelink.
As part of the investigation, the ED carried out searches against the company and its promoters in August and arrested its Managing Director, Partha Sarathi Biswal.
The money laundering case stems from a November 2024 FIR of Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW). It was alleged that the company was engaged in issuing "fake" bank guarantees against a commission of 8 per cent.
The Reliance Group had then said that Reliance Power had been a "victim of fraud, forgery and cheating conspiracy" in this case and it had made due disclosures in this context to the stock exchange on November 7, 2024.
A group spokesperson said a criminal complaint was lodged by them against the third party (accused company) with Delhi Police's EOW in October 2024 and the "due process" of law would follow.
The ED sources had said that the Bhubaneswar-based company was using an email domain -- s-bi.co.in -- similar to sbi.co.in to create a "facade" of genuineness that the communication was being sent by the State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender.
The fake domain was used to send "forged" communication to the SECI, they said.
The ED's preliminary investigation, according to the sources, indicated that the company also facilitated "fake" bills for commission and used multiple "undisclosed" bank accounts.
Suspicious transactions worth crores of rupees were done through these bank accounts, they said.
The company is a "mere paper entity" as its registered office is a residential property belonging to a relative of Biswal. No company records were found at the address during the searches, the sources had said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Trump says Pak PM told him millions would have died without his intervention
New York/Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump has said that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told him that 35 million people would have died if it were not for his intervention in stopping the war between India and Pakistan.
In his over 100-minute-long State of the Union address on Tuesday, Trump repeated his claim that he had helped prevent what could have turned into a nuclear war between the two South Asian neighbours.
“In my first 10 months, I ended eight wars... including Pakistan and India, which would have been a nuclear war. Thirty-five million people, said the Prime Minister of Pakistan, would have died if it were not for my involvement,” Trump said.
The US President has previously made similar claims, stating that Sharif had credited him with saving millions of lives by helping end the conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours. On earlier occasions, Trump had cited lower figures, including 25 million and later 10 million lives.
Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for stopping the conflict between India and Pakistan, an assertion he has now made about 100 times since May 10 last year, when he announced on social media that India and Pakistan agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington.
India has consistently denied any third-party intervention.
In his address, Trump also listed several other conflicts that he claimed to have helped resolve, including Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Congo and Rwanda, and the war in Gaza, which he said was now proceeding “at a very low level”.
Trump said the US is restoring security at home and abroad.
“We're proudly restoring safety for Americans at home and we are also restoring security for Americans abroad. Our country has never been stronger,” the president said in his second State of the Union address of his second term in the White House.
At one point, some Democratic lawmakers interrupted Trump's speech, prompting him to respond, “Isn't it funny? Sick people.”
STORY | Trump says Pak PM told him millions would have died without his intervention
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 25, 2026
US President Donald Trump has said that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told him that 35 million people would have died if it were not for his intervention in stopping the war between… https://t.co/NnkX8w3Lrg
