Enforcement Directorate officials are questioning Bineesh Kodiyeri, the son of Kerala CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan in connection with his alleged links to an accused in a narcotics ring that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had busted in August.
In response to summons issued last week, Mr. Bineesh appeared at the ED office in Shanti Nagar, Bengaluru, on Tuesday. According to sources, he is being questioned about his links with the accused, Mohammed Anoop.
Mr. Anoop is one of the three people arrested by the NCB in August. During the raids, the narcotics agency had recovered a huge cache of methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA) pills and party drugs. During the course of their investigations, NCB officials tied Mr. Anoop to Mr. Bineesh. The latter had allegedly loaned money to the accused to set up a restaurant in Kammanahalli.
The ED, which is looking at the finances of these peddlers and their sources, for money laundering and hawala transactions, had recently conducted an audit of their finances, questioned them and recorded their statements at Parappana Agrahara Central Prison, where they are currently lodged.
“Mohammed Anoop in his statement said that Bineesh Kodiyeri had lent him ₹50 lakh. We will question him as to what are his links with a peddler, for what purpose was the money given, what was the source of this money and whether he has declared it in his financial statements,” a senior ED official had told The Hindu at the time of issuing a summons.
