Bineesh sent to 14-day judicial custody

Bengaluru: There seems to be no respite for the ruling CPI-M in Kerala, as its State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan's son Bineesh Kodiyeri was sent to 14-day judicial custody by a court in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate after being called for questioning under charges of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on October 29.

On three occasions, the court extended the custody of him to the ED and on Wednesday after he was produced in the court, even though the ED sought extension of his custody for a week, as he was not cooperating with the probe, it was not granted and send him to the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison.

The court however refused to pass an order, when his counsel pointed out that the media was being provided with information by the probe officials and others and it should not be allowed to be published.

Another demand that was placed before the court was for a closed-door trial and that too was turned down.

Meanwhile, Bineesh's bail application will now be heard next Wednesday and until then he will be cooling his heels in the jail. However the saving grace for the party and Bineesh, is contrary to speculations that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) might seek his custodial interrogation, it did not happen and reports indicate that they will approach the court next week.

The reason why NCB might go after him is because his close friend and business aide Anoop Mohammed has been in its custody and is housed in the same jail, for well over a month now and they have been able to establish the links between the two. IANS