Overview

• Ashok Kumar Pal was taken into custody in Delhi on Friday night under the PMLA and is to be produced before a special court at 9:30 a.m., where the ED plans to seek his remand.
• The agency alleges Pal planned, supervised, funded, and concealed the scheme and facilitated the selection of Odisha-based Biswal Tradelink, described as a paper entity with no credible track record.
• The forged guarantee was submitted to SECI for Reliance NU BESS Limited/Maharashtra Energy Generation Limited, including a document purportedly from FirstRand Bank in Manila, where the bank has no branch, according to the ED.
• Investigators say spoofed domains such as s-bi.co.in were used to impersonate SBI in emails to SECI, with records sought from NIXI, and they cite use of disappearing messages and undisclosed bank accounts.
• The arrest comes within a broader probe into alleged ADA Group loan irregularities tied to Yes Bank, following July raids and the earlier arrest of Biswal Tradelink MD Partha Sarathi Biswal, while Reliance maintains it is a victim and has filed a police complaint.