KOCHI: Reporter TV Managing Director Anto Augustine was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days after being produced before the Sultan Bathery Judicial First Class Magistrate Court on Thursday in connection with the seizure of 67 litres of liquor from his residence in Wayanad. The court will consider his bail petition on Friday.
Augustine was arrested from the Reporter TV office in Kochi in the early hours of Thursday after the liquor was seized from his residence during a search by the special investigation team (SIT) on Wednesday. An Excise team led by Assistant Commissioner Byju reached the channel's office around 2.30 am and recorded his arrest by 5 am.
Augustine initially resisted the arrest and insisted on seeing the FIR. Though the team showed him a soft copy, he sought a hard copy. Perumbavoor Excise Circle Inspector Manoj Kumar later arrived with the hard copy, following which the arrest was recorded. After a medical examination, Augustine was taken to Wayanad, questioned at the Assistant Excise Commissioner's office and produced before the court in the evening.
During the hearing, Augustine's defence argued that the house from which the liquor was seized was not currently in his possession and that the prosecution had failed to establish the genuineness of the seizure claim. The prosecution produced a possession certificate issued by Muttil panchayat to establish that the house was in Augustine's possession.
The prosecution also argued that laboratory examination was required to determine whether the illicit liquor seized from the house was homemade wine or arrack. The 27-page occurrence report submitted to the court details the brands, labels and quantities seized from different parts of the house.
Augustine is the sole accused named in the Excise Occurrence Report. He has been booked under Sections 55(a), 55(i) and 58 of the Kerala Abkari Act.
Meanwhile, the Excise Department has constituted an SIT to probe how the liquor was accumulated and whether any portion of it was intended for sale.
"We have found foreign-made liquor, Indian-made liquor, military liquor and illicit liquor from Anto Augustine's house. A detailed investigation is required to establish why such a large quantity was stored at the house and whether it was intended for sale. Hence, we have decided to form an SIT for further investigation," said Joint Excise Commissioner Y Shiju.