BENGALURU : A day after arresting Bineesh Kodiyeri, the son of Kerala CPI(M) secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, in Bengaluru, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has stated that alleged drug peddler Mohammed Anoop is the “benamidaar” of Bineesh. The ED had arrested Bineesh on Thursday under Section 19 (1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after grilling him for more than three hours at its Bengaluru office.
On October 17, the agency had arrested Anoop under PMLA, and during his custodial interrogation, he had allegedly told ED officials that he “indulged in sale and purchase of narcotic drugs and was closely associated with Bineesh. All his financial dealings were done on Bineesh’s instructions,” the ED said in an official statement on Friday.
The agency further stated that the investigation in to the money trail has revealed that “Bineesh, on regular intervals, has transferred huge amounts of unaccounted money into Anoop’s bank accounts. These were preceded by huge cash deposits in Kerala into the accounts of Bineesh Kodiyeri. He could not explain these transactions and was evasive in his replies,” stated the central economic intelligence and law enforcement agency.
“Bineesh had several bank accounts and has indulged in transferring or layering huge proceeds of crime into various bank accounts,” the ED statement added. The central agency had initiated a probe against Anoop based on an FIR registered by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Bengaluru on August 22, when he was arrested along with Anikha D and R Ravindran under Sections 22, 27A, 28 and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The trio is lodged in judicial custody at the Bengaluru Central Prison at Parapanna Agrahara.
Bineesh: Affable guy with a mysterious side
Kozhikode: Affability and mysterious ways are two major traits which define Bineesh Kodiyeri, younger son of CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who has been arrested in connection with the Bengaluru drug cartel investigation. He has always been a jovial guy, though short tempered, with a vast network of friends. Even during his father’s tenure as home minister, Bineesh didn’t confine himself to the high circles nor display any haughtiness.
However, he allegedly has a mysterious side to his character – dabbling in numerous shady real estate and other deals, often peddling the clout of his father. “Thalassery knows Bineesh as a jovial youth who is also cricket crazy. He used to freely interact with persons regardless of their social status. He used to roam around with his friends. Short-tempered and flamboyant, he was flaunted his father’s clout, which is unbecoming of the son of a Communist leader,” said a former batchmate of Bineesh from his days at St Joseph’s HSS, Thalassery.