ED tightens noose around Kerala CPI-M leader's son

Thiruvananthapuram: After questioning Bineesh Kodiyeri, the son of CPI-M Kerala State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on September 9 for over 11 hours, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday sent him a notice under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The ED has asked him to give the list of his assets and has also directed the State Registration Department to prepare a list of his assets and to see that there is no transfer or sale of his assets (properties) without their knowledge.

After the 11-hour questioning ended, it was only a matter of time for the follow up action by the ED and it has now happened, leaving the ruling CPI-M red faced, as Bineesh in all likelihood would be called in again.

Trouble started for the high profile son of Balakrishnan ever since four national agencies started probing the two cases -- gold smuggling and drug dealing -- which were unravelled in Bengaluru by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). The ED is trying to find out if there was a common thread in the two cases and if Bineesh had a role in them.

Bineesh has denied any role in locating a hiding place for the prime accused in the gold smuggling case, Swapna Suresh, in Bengaluru. She was arrested along with her business partner by the NIA in July.

Another reason why the ED started to concentrate on Bineesh was that he has registered a few companies dealing with the financial matters, but had not undertaken the regulatory compliance and they were recently blacklisted by the authorities.

One more reason is the wide ranging business connections that he has, and also partnership ventures in many areas with others. When the now controversial gold smuggling case surfaced in July after the Customs first arrested a former public relations officer -- P.S. Sarith -- of the UAE Consulate and the NIA picked up Swapna Suresh, who has links with top police officers and bureaucrats, the speculation in the media was whether Bineesh was also involved.

But it was not until the end of August that his name first surfaced when a Kerala youth Anoop Mohammed was picked up by the NCB in Bengaluru. And then came the statement from Bineesh that he and Anoop were friends, and Bineesh had given a loan of Rs six lakh to him and another Rs 15,000 very recently as he had no money to return home from Bengaluru.

Even though Balakrishnan is trying to put a brave face by saying that his son will deal with all the issues, the opposition -- the Congress and the BJP -- is aggressively pursuing the case as two crucial elections are round the corner.