Keralam: Excise Deputy Commissioner, six others suspended over alleged bribery

The Excise Department on Sunday suspended seven officers, including a Deputy Commissioner, following a preliminary inquiry into allegations of unauthorised collection of money, liquor and other benefits from licensed bar establishments in Changanassery here, officials said.

The seven suspended officers are Deputy Excise Commissioner S Asoka Kumar; Preventive Officers M Manuel, Lalu Thankachan, Praveen Sivanand and Santhosh T; Preventive Officer (Grade) Shiju K; and Civil Excise Officer Visakh A S.

The action followed a tip-off received by Excise Minister M Liju on August 27 regarding alleged illegal liquor sales beyond permitted hours at bar hotels in the Changanassery area and information about an alleged intermediary working for the Kottayam Deputy Excise Commissioner.

A confidential verification was subsequently conducted under 'Operation BIJAPUR' by the Excise Commissioner Seeram Sambasiva Rao.

As per the suspension order issued by Rao on Sunday, the preliminary inquiry found that Rs 55,000 was allegedly collected from four bar establishments -- New York Square, Blue Star, Breezeland and Panchavadi -- through an intermediary in connection with the Deputy Excise Commissioner.

Separately, Rs 26,000 was allegedly collected from New York Square Bar in four covers and handed over to Excise personnel. Liquor, beer and food items were also allegedly received from the establishment, the order said.

The preliminary inquiry also found that the Deputy Excise Commissioner allegedly instructed the manager of New York Square Bar to hand over Rs 15,000 to the alleged intermediary, Karinkkada Josy. The amount was subsequently handed over to Josy at Panchavadi Bar.

The suspension order said that in another transaction, Rs 26,000 was allegedly handed over in four covers to Civil Excise Officer Visakh A S in the presence of Preventive Officer (Grade) Lalu Thankachan.

Visakh allegedly handed over one of the covers to Preventive Officer (Grade) Santhosh T, while Lalu allegedly took the remaining three covers.

The inquiry also found prima facie allegations that Lalu Thankachan and Shiju K received liquor, beer and food from the bar establishment.

Preventive Officers M Manuel and Praveen Sivanand also faced allegations relating to recurring monetary collections and receipt of articles during visits to bar establishments.

The order said the Deputy Excise Commissioner also admitted during the inquiry that he deleted data from his mobile phone when it was seized as part of the inquiry, which was treated as an aggravating circumstance.

The department has also ordered minor-penalty proceedings against Excise Range Inspector Adarsh G L over alleged supervisory lapses.