ED conducts searches at Bineesh Kodiyeri's residence, multiple locations

Thiruvananthapuram/Bengaluru: The Enforcement Directorate, probing a money laundering case against Bineesh Kodiyeri,son of Kerala CPI(M) secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, on Wednesday conducted searches at his house here, as also multiple locations in the city and various parts of Kerala.

An ED team from Bengaluru conducted searches at his house, besides many locations here and in northern Kerala, sources said. A special court in Bengaluru had on Monday extended custody of Bineesh to the Enforcement Directorate by five more days.

The ED had produced Bineesh before the special court dealing with the money laundering cases as the four-day custody came to an end on November 2.

The agency arrested Bineesh on October 29 in a money laundering case linked to a drug seizure in Karnataka and took him into its custody for four days to interrogate him. On Sunday night, he reportedly complained of back pain following which he was taken to the Bowring Hospital in that city for a check-up.

The central agency alleged that the “drug peddler” in the case, Mohammed Anoop, was a “benamidar” of Bineesh.

The ED probe stems from a Narcotics Control Bureau investigation that claimed to have busted an ecstasy pills drug trafficking racket in Karnataka in August, along with the arrest of Anoop and two others.

Bineesh has maintained that he knew Anoop and his family and the latter had borrowed money from him and some others to set up a restaurant business in Bengaluru a few years ago.