Bineesh Kodiyeri remanded to judicial custody again

Bengaluru: Bineesh Kodiyeri, son of former Kerala CPM secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, was remanded to judicial custody by a court here on Friday after four days of interrogation by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in a drug case.

The Special NDPS Court passed the remand order after the four days NCB custody ended.

Bineesh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on October 29 in a money laundering case linked to drug peddling. The NCB arrested him on November 17 while he was under judicial custody in the ED case.

The bureau had sought his custody to ascertain his links with the drug trafficking network as he was close to alleged drug peddler Mohammed Anoop in whose bank account he had transferred more than Rs 50 lakh.

The ED has also charged Bineesh with running Benami hotel in the name of Anoop.

The NCB had arrested Anoop in August along with Anikha D and Rijesh Ravindran for possessing synthetic drugs, which they were allegedly supplying to Kannada film actors and singers in the city.

Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has recently stepped aside as CPM state secretary in Kerala citing health grounds in the backdrop of his son's arrest.

The bail application filed by Bineesh Kodiyeri before the Special Court in connection with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case has been posted for hearing on November 24.

More persons from Kerala are reportedly under the scanner of ED which is probing the money trail in the Bengaluru drug racket case. The ED team will soon reach Kerala to follow up on the fresh links.

Earlier the ED had carried out raids on the houses and business establishments belonging to persons with whom Bineesh is suspected to have transactions. The raids were conducted on the premises of Car Palace owner Abdul Latheef and K K Rocks owner Arun Varghese.

(with inputs from PTI)