Bengaluru drugs seizure case: Bineesh Kodiyeri appears before ED officials in Kochi

Kochi: Bineesh Kodiyeri, son of Kerala CPI-M secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate officials here on Wednesday after being summoned by the agency over allegations of his links with an accused in Bengaluru drug case, sources said here.

The Enforcement Directorate had issued a notice to Bineesh directing him to appear before it at 11 am on Wednesday. The central agency's move came following charges of links between a key accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case and a prime accused in the Bengaluru drug seizure case.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday told a special court here that the accused in the Bengaluru drug case were suspected to have assisted those allegedly involved in the sensational gold smuggling case in Kerala.

The ED made the submission in the Special Court for PMLA cases here while seeking extension of judicial remand of three accused in gold smuggling case including Sarith PS and Swapna Suresh.

Earlier, the youth wing of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) had alleged that Bineesh Kodiyeri has close links with some members of a drug racket busted by the Narcotics Control Bureau in Bengaluru recently. Youth League General Secretary PK Firos had alleged that Bineesh had invested money in a hotel business launched by the drug case accused Mohammed Anoop in Kammanahalli in 2015 and demanded a comprehensive investigation into it.

Bineesh has said he knew Anoop and his family and the latter had borrowed money from him and some others for starting the restaurant business in Bengaluru some years ago. Bineesh had also said he was shocked after hearing the news about Anoop's alleged involvement in drug trafficking.