Seven Kerala Excise officials, including Kottayam Deputy Excise Commissioner S Asoka Kumar, have been suspended after a secret operation uncovered an alleged bribery racket involving the collection of money, liquor and other freebies from licensed bars.
Excise Commissioner Seeram Sambasiva Rao ordered the suspensions following directions from Excise Minister M Liju. In a rare operation, Excise Commissioner Rao travelled in disguise and without his official escort to verify the complaints. Cyber police detected the activity. He also allegedly made oral admissions regarding the collection of money before senior Excise officials.
Late on August 28, Rao and vigilance officers from the Excise headquarters conducted surprise inspections at several bars, including New York Square Bar and Panchavadi Bar.
Statements, audio recordings and CCTV footage collected during the inspections allegedly revealed what officials described as a “compliment system”, under which fixed amounts of money, premium liquor bottles and food were routinely collected from bars for Excise personnel at different levels. Data on the phone was remotely wiped and deleted during the examination, according to the Excise department. When confronted with the technical findings, Asoka Kumar admitted to wiping the device, according to the department.
The suspended officials are S Asoka Kumar, Deputy Excise Commissioner, Kottayam; M Manuel, Preventive Officer, Special Squad; Praveen Sivanand, Preventive Officer, Special Squad; Lalu Thankachan, Preventive Officer Grade, Changanassery; Santhosh T, Preventive Officer Grade, Changanassery; Shiju K, Preventive Officer Grade, Changanassery; and Visakh AS, Civil Excise Officer, Changanassery. Minor penalty proceedings have also been initiated against Adarsh GL, Excise Range Inspector, Changanassery, for alleged serious supervisory lapses. The department has preserved CCTV footage, phone recordings, digital logs and financial records collected during the operation as evidence. A detailed departmental inquiry will now be conducted to establish the full extent of the alleged racket and determine individual responsibility.
The investigation found that Deputy Excise Commissioner S Asoka Kumar allegedly used a local intermediary, Karinkkada Josy, to collect money from bar owners, allegedly threatening them with regulatory harassment. The investigation took another turn when officials examined Asoka Kumar’s mobile phone. Investigators traced payments totalling at least Rs 55,000 using bar registers, text messages and statements collected during the operation.
