Kochi: Anto Augustine, 38, promoter Malayalam Reporter TV was on Thursday remanded for 14 days of judicial custody by a court in Wayanad after a huge quantity of liquor was seized from his possession in his house in Wayanad on Wednesday. The Sultan Bathery Judicial First Class Magistrate Court remanded Managing Director Anto Augustine made the ruling after liquor more than permissible limit was seized from his possession. He will be lodged at the District Jail, Wayanad, in Mananthavady, media reports said. The Excise Department arrested Augustine from his Kochi office early on Thursday after he was booked under Sections 55A, 55I and 58 of the Abkari Act Abkari Act.The arrest followed a search at his Wayanad house on Wednesday, 16 September, by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing alleged financial irregularities in connection with the fictitious visit of football legend Lionel Messi and the Argentine national team to Keralam to play an exhibition match in Kochi. The SIT conducted coordinated searches at five locations across the State early on Wednesday under a court order. It found 43 litres of hard liquor and seven litres of wine at Augustine’s house and alerted the Excise Department.The Excise Department subsequently booked a case. A conviction under the section can attract up to 10 years’ imprisonment and a minimum fine of ₹1 lakh.
Anto Augustine remanded
