Thiruvalla/Pathanamthitta: All the main accused in the case of spirit theft from Travancore Sugars and Chemicals at Pulikeezh here are missing, according to the police. Those wanted by the police in connection with the diversion of 20,386 litres of spirit are general manager Alex P Abraham, personnel manager U Shahim and production manager Megha Murali. The mobile phones of these officials, who have failed to turn up at the company since Thursday, are now switched off, said the police.
Meanwhile, the absence of senior officials brought the operations of the company, which produces some popular Indian-made foreign liquor brands, to a halt by 11 am on Friday.
Earlier, the police had searched the company premises and the residences of the missing officials. On not finding them there, notices were posted at their houses summoning the officials to Pulikeezh police station between 2pm and 5pm on Friday. However, none of the officials appeared before the police.
Two tanker truck drivers Nandakumar (52) and Sijo Thomas (38) and a company official Arun Kumar (38) had earlier been arrested over the spirit theft.
Probe on
At the same time, the Scientific Officer from Thiruvananthapuram continued inspections of the tanker lorries on Friday. It is being investigated how the spirit, transported to the company from other states, could be stolen from the tankers without breaking the e-lock. Officials are also examining whether the stolen spirit was replaced with some other chemical.
An investigating officer said that a preliminary assessment indicated that the crime was planned in Kerala. However, the theft took place before the tankers reached the state. Even then, it was mysterious how the tankers crossed the inter-state check-post at Walayar, he said.
CPM local unit’s complaint ignored
In a curious development, it has now been revealed that a serious complaint raised eight months ago by the ruling party CPM’s local unit over the corrupt practices at Travancore Sugars was ignored by the government.
In their complaint, the CPM local leaders had pointed out that the amount of spirit reaching the company was less than the official figures and the actions of the top officials were suspect. However, the government considered the complaint as a part of the factional issues in the CPM and took no action.
Along with the company issues, the local leaders had also raised complaints regarding the elections to the trade union in Travancore Sugars and appointment of new workers. Action followed from the government on the trade union elections alone.
When contacted, the then Excise Minister T P Ramakrishnan said that he could not recall any complaint regarding Travancore Sugars.
GM who wields big clout
The general manager of the company Alex P Abraham is learnt to have good connections with the LDF as well as UDF leaders and he even reportedly increased his pension age from 58 to 60 years during the term of the previous LDF government. His term will now end only in 2025. Government sources said that no action was taken against Alex when the CPM local unit raised a complaint as procedural issues were involved.
