The Enforcement Directorate (ED), probing the finances involved in a narcotics racket that was recently busted by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the city, has summoned Bineesh Kodiyeri, son of Kerala CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan for interrogation. He has been asked to present himself before the agency in the city on October 6, Tuesday.
The NCB had busted a narcotics ring and arrested two peddlers from a flat in Kalyan Nagar on August 21 - Mohammed Anoop and R. Ravindran, both from Kerala. NCB sleuths had seized 145 Ecstasy pills from the flat. Their interrogation and follow-up action based on the leads they provided led to large seizures and arrest of another peddler Anikha. D, whose clientèle included many from the Kannada film industry.
The ED, which is looking into 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.
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“Mohammed Anoop in his statement has said 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 said.
Gold smuggling case
The ED had earlier questioned Bineesh Kodiyeri in connection with the gold smuggling case in which gold was being smuggled through diplomatic channels at the Thiruvananthapuram airport, in Kerala on September 9.
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In documents submitted to a court in Kerala, the ED has claimed there are suspicions that the accused in the drug racket busted by NCB in Bengaluru may have helped accused in the gold smuggling case in Kerala.