The CPI(M) in Kerala suffered two major setbacks on Thursday which has put the party in a dilemma as it gets ready for the elections to the local self Government and the legislative Assembly.
M Sivsankar, former Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, was sent to the Enforcement Directorate’s custody for seven days on Thursday by the District Sessions Judge, Ernakulam in connection with charges of gold smuggling, money laundering and interference in the functioning of other department of the Government. Later in the day, the ED arrested Bineesh Kodiyeri, the controversial son of CPI(M) strongman Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on charges of narcotics smuggling.
Sivsankar was arrested by the ED late Wednesday night following the Kerala High Court dismissing the former’s anticipatory bail application. The IAS officer, a former leader of the CPI(M)’s student wing SFI, was the most powerful bureaucrat in Kerala who was addressed as “Super CM” by other ministers in the cabinet and other bureaucrats, was considered as Vijayan’s eyes, ears and words.
The arrest memo served on Sivsankar by the ED officials tells that the IAS official had accepted during the questioning that he had spoken to a senior Customs Official at Thiruvananthapuram airport at the instance of Swapna Suresh to get the baggage seized by the agency released. “This clearly shows your active involvement in the offences committed by Swapna.This also amounts to misuse of public office and interference in the official working of other Government departments,” said the ED memo. It further states that Sivsankar has helped Swapna Suresh in all the gold smugglings and other illegal operations held by her in the past.
The CPI(M)’s woes got aggravated by Thursday afternoon when the ED arrested Bineesh Kodiyeri, second son of Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, the party’s state secretary, in connection with charges of drug trafficking. The ED officials had summoned Bineesh to Bangalore for questioning on Thursday to elicit more details about his association with Anoob Mohammed, a notorious drug smuggler. Mohammed is in the custody of Narcotics Control Bureau for his role in the infamous drug trafficking gang busted by it recently.
It is reported that Mohammed spilled the beans about his links with Bineesh who was a prime financer of the drug trafficking cartel.
These information led the probe agencies to Bineesh who has a not so respectable past. Bineesh has been sent to four days’ custody of the Enforcement Directorate.