Wayanad, Sep 19 (IANS): Anto Augustine, Managing Director of Reporter Broadcasting Corporation, who is in judicial custody in connection with a liquor seizure case, was on Saturday handed over to the Excise Department for 24 hours by a court in Wayanad for further interrogation.
The development comes a day after the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Sulthan Bathery rejected Augustine’s bail plea. The Kerala High Court had also declined to grant him interim bail on Friday and posted the matter for further hearing on Tuesday.
Augustine was arrested by the Excise Department in the early hours of Thursday from the Reporter TV office in Kalamassery following the seizure of liquor allegedly recovered from his ancestral house at Vazhavatta in Wayanad. Excise officials said around 67 litres of liquor and wine were found during a search conducted on Wednesday.
According to the department, the stock included foreign-made liquor, wine and other alcoholic beverages allegedly not authorised for sale in India. A case has been registered under Sections 55(a), 55(i) and 58 of the Kerala Abkari Act, which deal with alleged illegal possession and handling of liquor.
An Excise team led by Assistant Commissioner Baiju reached the Reporter TV office at around 2.30 a.m. on Thursday and arrested Augustine. He was later taken to Wayanad and produced before the Bathery court, which remanded him to 14 days of judicial custody.
The arrest came shortly after a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing alleged financial irregularities linked to the proposed visit of football star Lionel Messi and the Argentina national team to Kerala conducted searches at the offices of Reporter Broadcasting Corporation and premises associated with Augustine and his brothers in Kochi and Wayanad. Investigators seized documents and other records during those searches, including material related to Kaloor Stadium.
Authorities have clarified that the police probe into the proposed football event is separate from the Excise case. A separate tax-related inquiry has also raised questions over alleged financial irregularities involving Reporter Broadcasting Corporation.
Augustine has denied the liquor-related allegations and maintained that he cooperated with the SIT investigation by providing all documents sought by investigators. Following the 24-hour custodial interrogation, he is expected to be produced before the court again.
