Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mandal had earlier courted controversy in July 2013.

Senior Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mandal courted controversy yet again as he was caught on camera purportedly instructing his party workers to get a party rebel and a woman BJP leader arrested on a false case of possessing cannabis.

Anubrat Mandal, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) Birbhum district president, was presiding over a meeting in the Aushgram assembly constituency in neighbouring Burdwan East district on Sunday when the purported video was shot.

He is the party's observer in three assembly constituencies - Mangalkot, Ausgram and Ketugram - in East Burdwan district.

The video went viral Sunday night and kicked up a political storm in the state with the opposition accusing the ruling Trinamool of using the police to settle the scorewith the opposition.

Under the anti-narcotics law, a minimum jail term of six months is awarded for possessing up to 1 kg of cannabis, while the punishment for possessing a larger quantity could lead to prison term of up to 20 years.

"Arrest the man whom we have excluded from the five-member committee. Also, that woman, that plump one. What's her name? The one owning a garment shop, get her arrested too. She is a BJP worker. Can you control them? Tell me if you can control them, otherwise we will arrest them in a cannabis case and put them behind bars," Anubrat Mandal was purported heard instructing party workers in the video clip.

Bengal Agriculture Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Ashis Bandopadhyay was also present in the meeting.

The five-man