Following the arrest of his son Bineesh in the Bengaluru drug trafficking case, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has quit as the secretary of the Kerala unit of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM).

Convenor of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala A Vijayaraghavan will hold the charge as secretary temporarily, even as the CPM said “Kodiyeri’s request for long leave” for “advanced treatment” has been granted.

The CPM Kerala Secretariat said that Kodiyeri had offered to step down to undergo the treatment.

However, what raises the eyebrows is the party giving him the “long leave” after his son Bineesh Kodiyeri was arrested in connection with the drug trafficking case and remanded to judicial custody till 25 November.

The Enforcement Directorate has alleged that Bineesh was involved in money laundering as part of drug trafficking. Kodiyeri’s son came under a cloud after one of his acquaintances Mohammed Anoop was arrested for selling drugs on 21 August.

Anoop, involved in buying synthetic drugs such as MDMA from foreigners and selling it to college students at rave parties in the garden city, told the NCB that Bineesh had lent him money to take property on lease in Kammanahalli locality in Bengaluru five years ago.

The arrest and search operations were part of the Narcotics Control Bureau efforts to unearth drug mafia across the country, especially after drugs have been linked to the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

Kodiyeri’s resignation is a new twist since the CPM went all out to defend him and said the party cannot be held responsible for his son’s action. Also, the Kerala police attempted to stop ED officials from conducting search operations at Bineesh’s residence.

Kodiyeri, who took charge in 2015, had to quit as Kerala is headed for local bodies polls and the CPM does not want to leave anything to chance. This is especially in view of Opposition parties taking full advantage of the gold smuggling case in which Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s office is reported to have been involved.

LDF Convenor A Vijayaraghavan

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