Kochi, Sep 17 (IANS) Reporter TV Managing Director Anto Augustine was formally arrested by the Excise Department in a case relating to the possession of liquor beyond the permissible limit, as the police investigation into alleged financial irregularities surrounding the proposed visit of Lionel Messi and the Argentina football team to Kerala gathered pace.
An Excise team led by Assistant Commissioner Baiju reached the Reporter TV office in Kalamassery in the early hours of Thursday and took Augustine into custody.
He was later subjected to a medical examination and is now being taken to Wayanad, a journey expected to take several hours.
He will be produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Sulthan Bathery.
The arrest followed the seizure of a large quantity of liquor from Augustine’s ancestral house at Vazhavatta in Wayanad during the SIT search on Wednesday.
Excise officials seized 43 litres of foreign liquor, seven litres of foreign wine and 13 litres of homemade wine, besides liquor bottles not authorised for sale in India.
The arrest at the Reporter TV office witnessed a tense sequence of events.
After the Excise team read out the seizure mahazar, Augustine insisted that he be shown the FIR before being arrested.
Though officials showed him a digital copy, he insisted on a hard copy.
Perumbavoor Excise Circle Inspector Manoj Kumar subsequently arrived with the physical copy, following which the arrest was formally recorded.
The developments came shortly after a nearly 20-hour search by the SIT at the Reporter Broadcasting Company office and premises linked to its owners in Kochi and Wayanad.
The police seized several documents, memory cards and records relating to the Kaloor stadium, besides $6,300 in foreign currency.
The searches were conducted under court warrants.
State Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, who returned from the US, said the SIT headed by ADGP P. Vijayan was constituted to investigate the Messi episode on the basis of a report submitted by the Sports Secretary.
He said the report had been handed over to him by Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan.
“The SIT is doing its job according to law. It has acted only in accordance with the prevailing laws. The Home Minister does not intervene,” Chennithala told reporters at the Cochin airport.
He said any action found to be contrary to law would be examined.
“They had a search warrant and proceeded accordingly. What happened during the past one decade is known to everyone. Why did you not see that then? Many media personnel were under duress. We are making it very clear that if anything wrong has been done, it will be looked into,” he said.
The SIT search, led by Thrikkakara ACP Bijoy Chandran, began around 6 a.m. on Wednesday and concluded at about 2.30 a.m. on Thursday.
The team also searched the flats of Augustine and his brothers at Chembumukku and the office of marketing company GOTAD, which investigators suspect has links with Augustine.
Police said evidence had been collected and that the SIT chief would provide further details.
The Excise case against Augustine carries non-bailable provisions under the Abkari Act, while the separate SIT investigation concerns alleged cheating and financial irregularities linked to the proposed Messi-Argentina event.
–IANS
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