Was Anto planning a parallel bar at home? Crucial information in remand report

WAYANAD: The excise department suspects that Anto Augustine, owner of Reporter Broadcasting Company, remanded in custody in the case of stocking illicit liquor, may have been planning to set up a parallel bar at his residence. According to the remand report submitted by the excise team, Anto Augustine’s application to change the classification of his house may have been made for this purpose.

The excise department recovered 12.750 litres of beverages containing alcohol from Anto’s house. The preliminary conclusion is that the liquor was illicitly manufactured. The excise informed the court that it needs to be determined whether Anto has similar liquor manufacturing units elsewhere.

Meantime, Anto Augustine, remanded in the Abkari case, was yesterday handed over to excise custody for 24 hours by the judicial first-class magistrate court in Sultan Bathery. This was after considering the production warrant submitted by the excise department. The prosecution had requested that he be given into custody for four days for interrogation and for taking him to the house at Vazhavatta, where the liquor was recovered, to conduct evidence. However, the court did not grant the request.

Anto was remanded the other day for stocking liquor than the permitted quantity from his ancestral house. After the Bathery court rejected his bail plea filed on Friday, he approached the high court. However, the hearing on the plea was adjourned to Tuesday.

The defence argued that Anto was arrested without following the proper procedures, the house from which the liquor was allegedly recovered did not belong to him, and that the liquor had not been seized in his presence. The defence lawyer also argued that there were no documents to establish that the liquor had been stored for sale and that possessing liquor beyond the permitted quantity was a bailable offence. However, the court did not accept these arguments.

The prosecution argued that there was a possibility of the accused destroying evidence if he was granted bail.

The prosecution also argued that an investigation be conducted into the people who had purchased Anto’s house for crores. After being handed over to excise custody, Anto was taken for a medical examination and then brought to the house at Vazhavatta, where evidence was collected. The proceedings were led by Assistant Excise Commissioner R N Baiju and circle inspectors Sunil and Sharafuddin, along with Inspector Sajin. Ambalavayal circle inspector Biju Antony, Meenangadi sub inspector P V Ratheesh, Ambalavayal sub inspector Jaswin, and Noolpuzha sub inspector Akhil were also in the team to collect evidence.