Bineesh Kodiyeri returns home after a year in Bengaluru jail in narcotics case

Bineesh Kodiyeri, the youngest son of CPI(M) senior leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, is back home after being released from a Bengaluru jail on bail. Bineesh was in jail for a year after being arrested for his alleged links to a drug peddling case in October 2020. Bineesh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on October 29 2020. He was welcomed back to his house in Thiruvananthapuram by Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, his children and other family members.

Bineesh was granted bail by the Karnataka High Court on Thursday, October 28, but his release from jail was delayed over issues faced by the people who were standing surety for him. Earlier, Bineesh was denied bail multiple times.

He arrived in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday morning. On October 30, while leaving the prison in Bengaluru, Bineesh had told media persons that India’s biggest political party was behind the case against him. “In 'Bineesh Kodiyeri', Bineesh is nothing, what matters is the name Kodiyeri. Hence you (the media) would understand that the case is political. The truth will prevail. If I had told the name of certain people, or certain things, I would have been out in ten days,” he said.

Kodiyeri Balakrishnan meanwhile said that he was relieved to see his son, adding that he was unable to meet him in the prison in Karnataka where Bineesh was lodged after his arrest. "I saw him after a year. I am happy," the senior CPI(M) leader said. He, however, declined to comment about the case which according to Bineesh was foisted upon him.

The ED probe stems from a case being investigated by the Narcotics Control Bureau that claimed to have busted an ecstasy pills drug trafficking racket in Karnataka in August last year. Bineesh Kodiyeri's name surfaced in the Bengaluru drug case when Anoop Muhammed a native of Kochi was arrested and questioned by the Narcotics Control Bureau.

Kodiyeri had stepped down as the state secretary of the CPI(M) in November 2020 days after Bineesh’s arrest.

With PTI Inputs 

Watch the video of Bineesh Kodiyeri being back at home