Reporter TV MD Anto Augustine Arrested by Excise in Abkari Case

Kochi: Reporter TV managing director Anto Augustine was arrested by the Excise Department in an abkari case. An Excise team arrested Augustine from the Reporter TV office.

The arrest was based on allegations that foreign liquor had been found at his ancestral home in Vazhavatta, Wayanad. Augustine, however, alleged that the Excise action was retaliatory and that he had been falsely implicated in the case.

"I do not consume alcohol. I have no knowledge of anything related to it. I do not know about the case involving the Excise Department either. Let me go and find out," Augustine told the media.

He said the team that arrived to arrest him had detained him for several hours without even providing a copy of the FIR.

"The team came to the office and even after two hours, they did not hand over the FIR. It was only after I questioned this that they gave me the FIR," Augustine said.

The arrest comes a day after a team of police officers conducted a search at the Reporter TV head office in Kochi.

The police had also seized mobile phones belonging to journalists. The officers entered the news desk, which is accessible only to journalists and technical staff, in a manner that disrupted its functioning.