ED search at Bineesh's home in Kerala concludes; family alleges threat

Acting on a complaint by a relative thatthe Enforcement Directorate officials allegedly refused to allow milk or food to be given to Bineesh's child, the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights ordered the agency to make sure that the rights of children were not affected by its probe. Taking cognisance of the complaint, it also ordered the district police chief to look into it and register a case if there was any violation of law.

The ED on Thursday ended its search at the residence of Bineesh Kodiyeri, son of Kerala CPI(M) secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, here in a money laundering case amid allegations of illegal detention of his family members and bid to plant 'evidence' by the agency. Acting on a complaint by a relative thatthe Enforcement Directorate officials allegedly refused to allow milk or food to be given to Bineesh's child, the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights ordered the agency to make sure that the rights of children were not affected by its probe.

Taking cognisance of the complaint, it also ordered the district police chief to look into it and register a case if there was any violation of law. The searches, that began on Wednesday morning in multiple locations including at Bineesh's house here, concluded after about 26 hours as his relatives staged a protest dharna.

Bineesh, arrested on October 29 in a money laundering case linked to a drug seizure in Karnataka, is now under the custody of the ED. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, when asked by reporters whether he considered the searches as politically motivated, said they were part of a probe and he cannot react without knowing the details.

He, however, said the family can complain in case there were any lapses in the process of investigation. "They might have given a complaint and the police might have taken some action with regard to it," Vijayan said, in an apparent reference to the action by the child rights panel.

Dismissing the family's claims as drama, BJP state president K Surendran accused the LDF government of attempting to stop the work of the central agencies by using police and child rights panel. A full bench of the child rights commission, comprising its Chairman V Manoj Kumar and members Fr. Philip Parakkatt and K Naseer, registered a case based on a complaint by S R Pradeep, father-in-law of Bineesh, alleging thatthe ED officials shouted in front of the child and refused to allow milk or food to be given.

In its order, the panel, however, made it clear that the ED probe does not come under its authority. "The commission ordered the district police chief to look into the complaint and record the statements of the concerned persons. Police can register a case if there is any violation of law. District child protection officer should file a report on the condition of the children," a release from it said.

It also asked the district medical officer to provide medical assistance, if necessary. Vijayan said the ED came here as part of its investigation into the case.

"They reached there on the basis of thedetailsthey have. The probe is against an individual by the agency and without knowing the details of the probe, we cannot comment beforehand. The search was part of the probe," he said.

Surendran alleged the state government was attempting to stop central agencies from carrying out their work by using the police and child rights panel, saying it was "anti- democratic" and "violation of the federal system". "Vijayan is using the entire government machinery to sabotage the central agencies' probe into the drug case in which the CPI-M state secretary's son is involved. What happened in Kodiyeri's house today was a pre-planned political drama," he alleged.

Earlier in the day, Bineesh's wife alleged thatthe ED officials threatened and forced her to sign certain documents in which they claimed to have recovered a credit card in the name of Mohammed Anoop, an accused in the drug case in Bengaluru. "....they came with some documents and asked me to sign it. In that they had mentioned that they recovered a credit card in the name of Mohammed Anoop. I refused to do so as there was no such card in our house. They threatened us and said Bineesh will face the consequences," she told reporters after the searches concluded.

She alleged that the ED officials brought a credit card with them and asked her to sign the document saying it was seized from the house. Earlier, when Bineesh's relatives reached his house with food for the family, they were allegedly denied entry by the ED following which they staged a protest.

They charged the ED with not allowing the family members to have food and threatening them. A special court in Bengaluru had on Monday extended custody of Bineesh to the central agency by five more days.

The ED has alleged that the "drug peddler" in the case, Mohammed Anoop, was a "benamidar" of Bineesh. It's probe stems from a Narcotics Control Bureau investigation that claimed to have busted an ecstasy pills drug trafficking racket in Karnataka in August with the arrest of Anoop and two others.

Bineesh has maintained that he knew Anoop and his family and the latter had borrowed money from him and some others to set up a restaurant business in Bengaluru a few years ago..