Bineesh Kodiyeri's business partner found to be in touch with Bengaluru Drug Case accused

Republic TV investigation has found that Arun Kuttappan who is the business partner of Bineesh Kodiyeri in the 'Old Coffee House' Restaurant business in Thiruvananthapuram was in regular touch with the prime accused in the Bengaluru drugs case.

Earlier, the call record details of Anoop Muhammed had emerged which showed that between May 31 and August 19, Bineesh Kodiyeri, the son of CPIM state secretary and Anoop Muhammed the accused in the Bengaluru Drugs Case had exchanged 78 calls.

However, what is even more striking is that Arun Kuttappan and Anoop Muhammed have exchanged 13 calls between June 9 and August 8, this year. Eight calls were made by Anoop to Arun and Arun had made 6 calls back to Anoop. This information could expose deeper links of partners of Bineesh in the case. 

In the report filed by the Enforcement Directorate in Bengaluru court, last week, it had called out Bineesh's lie who had said the amount transferred to Anoop Mohammed was made from the loan given to Old Coffee House by Punjab National Bank. 

However, in the statement, ED states, "On analysis of the bank accounts, it is seen that the cash was deposited immediately in the account of Bineesh Kodiyeri before it was transferred to the drug peddler." ED has its lens on the partnership firm and it suspects the firm was used as a front for financing illegal narcotic activities.

In this context, Republic TV investigation about the interaction of business partner of Bineesh with drug case accused puts more credence on the charges levelled by ED in the report which categorically accuses Binish to be involved in money laundering.

Republic TV visited the home of Arun Kuttappan. His father, Sundareshan is a gulf returnee spoke to us and he said that to start the Old Coffee House business, their small terrace home, located at suburbs in Muttada has been mortgaged at a cooperative bank nearby for an amount of Rs 10 lakhs. His family said Arun has not spoken to them for the last 4-5 days and they are unclear about his whereabouts. 

Anand Padmanabhan, the other business partner in the same restaurant business with Bineesh was also not at home. His father said that they know Bineesh for the last 2 decades and that their home was also kept under mortgage to start the Old Coffee House business.

During the recent raids by ED, it had searched the office of Anand Padmanabhan called Torres Remedies which has been into the marketing of modern medicines and Anand's father stated that his son has been managing this business since 2004. ED officials suspect the business may have been illegally used for even drug trafficking and only deeper investigation will reveal these links. 

Witness Records states 'Bineesh has consumed cocaine'

The ED report has also recorded the statement of two witnesses: Suhas Krishnegowda and Sonet Lobo who had stated that they were witness to Bineesh Kodiyeri taking cocaine. Although, The Narcotics Control Board, who is yet to charge Bineesh in the case is likely to unearth these details. In the wake of the new details after raids, NCB entry into Kerala looks highly probable.
Bineesh is being wrongly framed, says family and Friends.

However, when Republic spoke to the mother in law Mini Pradeep about Bineesh drug habit, she completely denied it. "Bineesh is no such person. He doesn't smoke, or consume alcohol or do drugs," she said and accused that ED has framed him. When asked about the mortgage details, she said, it was her land that was kept under a mortgage for Bineesh restaurant business.

READ | Drugs Pmla Case:Bineesh Kodiyeri Arrested By ED

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LOAN DEFAULT CASE

Meanwhile, Punjab National Bank has filed a Rs 30.75 lakh loan default case against Bineesh and his two partners Arun Kuttappan and Anand Padmanabhan. The Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) had issued notice to three but the trio failed to appear. Republic TV accessed the electricity bill of the restaurant and due amount of bill Rs 62,000 has not been paid since March 2020.

The loan default case has been posted on November 25 by DRT. Bineesh's mother in law's 6.5 cent of prime land in the city was pledged to secure a Rs 50 lakh loan from PNB, in the 'Old Coffee House' business that started over five years ago.

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