THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: High drama prevailed at the residence of Bineesh Kodiyeri on Thursday after his wife refused to sign a document approving the evidence collection (panchnama) by the Enforcement Directorate which raided their house. Bineesh, the son of CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, was earlier arrested by the ED on the charges of money laundering related to drug trafficking.
The ED team which started its raid around 9 a.m. on Wednesday had completed the raid in the night and waited at the house until 11 a.m. the next day just to get her signature. The team reportedly seized a credit card of Anoop Muhammad, the key accused in the high profile drug case registered by the Narcotics Control Bureau, from the house. But Bineesh's wife said it was brought by the ED to fabricate evidence and hence she would not sign the panchnama.
Bineesh's wife, child and mother-in-law were at the house at the time of the raid which lasted for around 25 hours. Bineesh's wife and mother-in-law later alleged that the ED planted evidence at their house. "None of us saw the ED collecting the card until they asked to sign the document in the night. The team pressured me to sign the document. They said it would help Bineesh's release and even asked me whether I would sign if Bineesh asked me to do so over the phone. But I refused to budge," his wife told the large media posse outside the house.
His mother-in-law said the team members searched only one room - the bedroom on the first floor of the house. "The rest of the time they chatted and snacked. The only evidence recorded in the document was that credit card," she said.
The ED team was blocked by the state police when their vehicle was about to leave the premises. The police wanted a statement from the team members since Bineesh's father-in-law had filed a police complaint alleging illegal detention of the three inside the house. However, the ED was allowed to leave when they asked the police to collect details from their higher officers camping in the city.
On Thursday morning, some relatives of Bineesh, including his maternal aunt, had staged a sit-in in front of the house after they were denied entry into the house. Later, his wife and mother-in-law came out of the house and spoke to the relatives. A CRPF team provided security to the ED team.