New Delhi— The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Amar Nath Dutta in connection with its ongoing investigation into the fake bank guarantee case linked to Reliance Power Ltd. This marks the third arrest in the case, following the earlier detention of former Reliance Power CFO Ashok Kumar Pal and Partha Sarthi Biswal, managing director of shell company M/s Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd.
Dutta, a Kolkata-based consultant claiming expertise in trade financing, was taken into custody under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The ED alleges that he played a key role alongside Pal and Biswal in generating and submitting forged bank guarantees worth over ₹68 crore, fake endorsements, and fabricated SFMS confirmations to the Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd. (SECI), a public sector entity under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
He was produced before a Patiala House Court judge on November 6 and remanded to four days of ED custody until November 10.
According to the agency, the fraudulent bank guarantees were part of a larger scam that caused SECI losses exceeding ₹100 crore. The ED’s probe began after three FIRs were filed, including one by SECI with Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW). Investigators discovered that forged State Bank of India (SBI) endorsements were sent from spoofed email domains like sbi.17313@s-bi.co.in to mislead SECI officials into believing the documents were authentic.
Further investigation revealed a network of spoofed domains resembling legitimate bank websites, including lndiabank.in, lndusindbank.in, pnblndia.in, psdbank.co.in, siliguripnb.co.in, lobbank.co.in, and unionbankofIndia.co.in. These domains were allegedly used by the same group to execute the fraudulent transactions.
The ED continues to trace the proceeds of crime, identify additional beneficiaries, and examine the larger conspiracy involving other individuals and entities tied to the case.
