Bineesh Kodiyeri, the son of CPI(M) state secretary was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate for over 11 hours on Wednesday. Officials told the media that he may be summoned again for further questioning. In the meantime, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has sought details provided by Bineesh to the ED.
The ED began questioning Bineesh at 11 am and he was let off in the night at 10 pm. Bineesh is known to two men accused in two different cases, and officials are trying to ascertain the link between the gold smuggling case under probe in Kerala and a drug racket that was busted in Bengaluru. KT Ramees, one of the accused in the gold smuggling case is known to Anoop Muhammad, one of the accused in the Bengaluru drug case, who in turn is a friend of Bineesh, reported Times of India.
The ED is also scrutinising three companies owned in partnership by Bineesh. The Registrar of Companies had frozen two of these firms, one based in Bengaluru and the other in Kozhikode, for not submitting annual reports since 2015.
UAFX, the third firm based in Thiruvananthapuram, is accused of paying a commission to Swapna Suresh, the accused in the gold smuggling case, to help win a visa stamping contract in the UAE consulate. Officials suspect that these companies are shell companies involved in money laundering and foreign exchange transactions, reported Manorama. Officials suspect that those arrested in the Bengaluru drug racket were laundering money through these shell companies, and the investigation to ascertain the link between both the cases is still ongoing.
Bineesh has however denied having any knowledge of Anoop’s supposed links with the drug racket. Anoop was arrested on August 28 along with Kannada actor D Anikha and Rijosh Raveendran. Bineesh had earlier helped Anoop financially to set up a restaurant, which shut down in 2018.
The Bengaluru unit of the NCB has in the meantime sought details on the questioning. Officials from ED told the paper that the information collected from Bineesh will be shared with the NCB.