Setback for KCA Jt Secy Bineesh Kodiyeri as Bengaluru court dismisses discharge petition

Bengluru/Thiruvananthapuram, June 16 In a huge setback for Kerala Cricket Association's Joint Secretary Bineesh Kodiyeri, a court in Bengaluru on Friday dismissed his discharge petition in a case registered by the ED's Bengaluru wing under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in 2020.

Bineesh Kodiyeri is the younger son of late former CPI-M politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan who was the State secretary of the Kerala CPI-M, when he passed away last year.

In the case, Bineesh Kodiyeri was in jail for a year and got conditional bail from the Karnataka High Court in October 2021 and it was the discharge petition in the case, which was dismissed by a Bengaluru court on Friday.

His close aide Anoop Mohammed was first picked up by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and was jailed in Bengaluru and it was after his arrest, Bineesh Kodiyeri was questioned and later arrested.

He is accused of giving Rs 4 million to Anoop.

The court also pointed out that at two different places, Bineesh Kodiyeri was found to have cocaine with Anoop and others and this was testified by two different witnesses.

Soon after the arrest of Bineesh Kodiyeri, a furore broke out and the CPI-M, in general and Kodiyeri Balakrishnan in particular, came under pressure and to cool down things, he was given leave from the post of state secretary on account of his health.

Now with the court in Bengaluru coming down heavily against Bineesh Kodiyeri, all eyes are on how the Kerala Cricket Association views the observations of the court, especially of the mention of cocaine.

sg/vd