Malayalam TV channel MD sent back to jail after 1-day excise custody in Wayanad liquor seizure case
Augustine, who was taken into Excise custody for one day, was produced before Sultan Bathery Judicial First Class Magistrate Adheena Biju.
On Sunday, a court in Sultan Bathery remanded Anto Augustine, the managing director of a Malayalam news television channel, to judicial custody following his release from Excise custody. Augustine had been taken into custody for a single day in connection with the seizure of liquor bottles exceeding the legal limit from his ancestral house. He was brought before Sultan Bathery Judicial First Class Magistrate Adheena Biju and later transferred to Wayanad District Jail in Mananthavady.
During the 24-hour Excise custody, the Excise team visited Augustine's ancestral house to collect evidence. The seized liquor bottles were also examined as part of the ongoing investigation. Augustine, who is the managing director of Reporter Broadcasting Company, was arrested on Thursday after a Special Investigation Team (SIT) found liquor bottles at his ancestral house during the probe into irregularities from a failed football event sponsored by the company.
The SIT subsequently handed over the seized liquor to the Excise Department, which filed a case against Augustine. The court dismissed his bail petition on Friday. Augustine had earlier filed a bail plea in the Kerala High Court, which now scheduled to consider his application on September 22.
Written by urgent.news from Hindustan Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
