Kerala gold smuggling, Bengaluru drug mafia interlinked, says Congress

Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress on Friday said that the controversial gold smuggling case and the recently busted Bengaluru drug mafia have close links. What's even more surprising is the revelation by Bineesh Kodiyeri, son of CPI-M state Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, that he knows one of those arrested in the narcotics case, it added.

Speaking to the media, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said Balakrishnan has to break his silence. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, when confronted with this revealation, had brushed aside the queries, said Chennithala.

"Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the gold smuggling case managed to escape from Kerala and reached Bengaluru. The drug mafia which was recently busted also operated from there.

From what has come out now, it's very clear that there are close links between these two cases. The son of Balakrishnan himself had revealed that he knew one of the arrested -- Anoop Mohammed in the drug case and this is a shocking revelation," said Chennithala.

"What's the relation that Balakrishnan's son has with all this. Moreover, his silence is baffling. He has to break his silence. All sorts of cases which have links with the Vijayan government are floating around," added the Congress leader.

Chennithala pointed out that news has surfaced and been confirmed about a night party at a resort in Kumarakom during the Covid lockdown.

Though Bineesh has denied such a party taking place, after his picture was posted on the social media, he said that it was taken long back and he had not visited Kumarakom recently. "We recently read about the police taking action against those people who took part in a night party at Idukki. Why is the Vijayan government not probing the Kumarakom night party. We demand that the police should probe this night party," said Chennithala.

Earlier, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) general secretary P K Firoz alleged that Bineesh Kodiyeri had invested money in a hotel business launched by drug case accused Mohammed Anoop in Kammanahalli in 2015 and demanded a comprehensive investigation into it. Over the years the name of Bineesh has surfaced regularly and he is known to have wide ranging contacts in business and film circles.

His elder brother Binoy was in the dock when a 33-year-old Mumbai-based woman filed a complaint before the police alleging that he had sexually exploited her for several years on the pretext of marriage and they have an eight-year-old child. This case is now waiting the result of a DNA test conducted in Mumbai.

As the BJP also raised the issue and demanded a probe, Bineesh said Anoop had borrowed money from him and others some years ago but pleaded ignorance about his alleged involvement in drug trafficking, adding news about it was a shock to him.

Addressing a press conference here, Firoz claimed Anoop has given a statement to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) that he started a hotel in Kammanahalli in Bengaluru with financial help of Bineesh Kodiyeri.

He also said Anoop has shared on Facebook a photograph of Bineesh Kodiyeri attending a night party with him in Kumarakom.