Reporter TV's Anto Augustine denied bail in excess liquor possession case
Anto Augustine's bail was denied by a magistrate's court following his arrest for possessing excessive alcohol.
Anto Augustine's bail was denied by a magistrate's court following his arrest for possessing excessive alcohol.
Anto Augustine's bail was denied by a magistrate's court following his arrest for possessing excessive alcohol.
The Sulthan Bathery Judicial First Class Magistrate's Court-I on Friday denied a bail application moved by Anto Augustine, authorised signatory of Reporter Broadcasting Private Limited (RBC), in a case involving the alleged possession of alcohol far exceeding the legally permissible limit.
This means Anto will remain in custody after the court remanded him for 14 days on Thursday.
Anto was taken into custody by the Kalpetta Excise wing from the Kochi office of Reporter TV on Thursday. The action followed the recovery of large quantities of alcohol during raids at his residence in Wayanad on Wednesday in connection with a financial fraud case linked to an attempt to bring football icon Lionel Messi and the Argentina national team to Kerala.
The Excise Department has booked Anto under Sections 55(a), 55(i) and 58 of the Kerala Abkari Act.
During the raid, officials seized 43.85 litres of foreign-made foreign liquor (FMFL), 1.22 litres of foreign-made wine, 6.25 litres of KSBC wine, 750 ml of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) sourced from a canteen and meant exclusively for defence personnel, and 12.75 litres of another alcoholic beverage. The liquor was recovered from a room on the first floor of Anto's residence at Karapuzha in Muttil South.
The arrest followed a series of raids at the Kochi and Wayanad residences of the Augustine brothers and the RBC head office in Kalamassery. The raids were conducted as part of the investigation into the multi-crore financial fraud case in Kalamassery.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing alleged irregularities linked to the proposed visit of the Argentina national football team and Messi to Kerala had flagged alleged tax evasion of ₹25.78 crore by RBC.