Sandalwood drug probe: CPM state secy's son Bineesh Kodiyeri sent to custody till Nov 2

After arresting CP(M) Kerala secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan's son - actor Bineesh Kodiyeri on Thursday, Enforcement Directorate has been granted custody till November 2 by a court. Bineesh - who is a Kannada actor - has been booked for the offence of money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). He was named by one of the drug peddlers arrested in the Sandalwood drug case.

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Drug peddler names Bineesh

On September 4, as the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) probed several drug peddlers, one of the arrested accused - a drug peddler - Mohammed Anoop named Bineesh in his voluntary statement to the NCB.  Anoop claimed that Bineesh and another friend helped him financially in opening the 'Hyaat restaurant' in Bengaluru in 2018. Reports state that  Bineesh has close ties with Rijesh Raveendran, one of the other accused arrested in the case. Bineesh has accepted knowing Anoop, but denies knowledge of his involvement in drugs.

Meanwhile, Muslim Youth League state general secretary P K Firoz connected links of Bineesh Kodeyeri with the Kerala Gold smuggling case- alleging that Bineesh had called Anoop 26 times the day Swapna Suresh - the prime accused - was arrested. Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala too alleged that 'there is a clear link between the Kerala Gold Smuggling case and the drug trafficking mafia caught in Bengaluru', demanding a CBI probe. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan's ex-principal secretary M Sivasankar has been placed under arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) charged with money laundering and Benami charges against Shivshankar, in the Kerala gold smuggling case.

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What is the Sandalwood drug racket?

The drug racket prevalent in the Kannada film industry - 'Sandalwood' came to light when deceased journalist Gauri Lankesh's brother - Indrajit Lankesh revealed the involvement of certain actors in the drug menace- naming two actresses wheo were allegedly not being interrogated due to the supposed political connection. “There is a link between the drug industry and the Sandalwood. Some actresses consume banned substances at parties and carry them in their vanity sets too,” he said. Several Sandalwood actors like - Ragini Dwivedi, Sanjanaa Galrani have been arrested and are being questioned by the CCB.

Sandalwood drug racket: Arrested drug peddler names CPM state secy's son Bineesh Kodiyeri

Police sources claim that drugs being supplied through the ‘dark net’ was detected while raiding the places belonging to a few drug peddlers. Joint commissioner of police (CCB), Sandeep Patil, stated that a notice has been issued to Lankesh summoning him for questioning. Three alleged drug peddlers - M Anoop, Anikha D and R Ravindran have been arrested when NCB conducted raids in the city and seized drugs like  LSD, MDM, ecstasy, cannabis worth Rs 1.25 crores which were being supplied to local youths.