Late CPM stalwart Kodiyeri Balakrishnan’s son Bineesh Kodiyeri’s plea to have his name removed from the list of accused in a drug-money laundering case was dismissed by a court on Friday. Bineesh had filed a petition before the Bengaluru City Sessions Court seeking to clear his name.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had identified Bineesh as the fourth accused in the case, which resulted in him spending a year at the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru. Bineesh was arrested on October 29, 2020, on charges of allegedly transferring Rs 50 lakh to the operator of an alleged drug racket. He was granted bail in October 2021.
The sequence of events leading to Bineesh’s imprisonment began with the arrest of Kannada actor D Anikha and two Malayalis, Anoop Muhammad and Rijesh Raveendran, by the Narcotics Control Bureau in August 2020 in Kochi.
During the ED’s interrogation of Anoop, Bineesh’s alleged involvement came to light. Bineesh claimed that he had only lent the money to Anoop for the purpose of starting a hotel in Bengaluru. However, based on his bank transactions, the ED took him into custody.
Investigators discovered Anoop’s debit card at Bineesh’s residence in Thiruvananthapuram, and they argued that Bineesh’s signature was on the card. The ED contended that Anoop was a benami for Bineesh and that the companies he supposedly owned, B Capital Financial Services and B Capital Forex Trading Pvt Ltd, were shell companies.
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