Excise officers share seized liquor and accepts bribe to settle case, action taken

GURUVAYUR: Three excise officers have been suspended on the complaint of accepting bribes to settle a case and also for sharing the liquor seized in the raid. Chavakkad Range Excise Inspector DV Jayaprakash, preventive officers TS Saji and PA Haridas were suspended based on the intelligence report.

Civil Excise Officers PE Anees Muhammad, K Sarath, female civil excise officer NK Sija will be sent for compulsory training at the Excise Academy for two weeks. The incident happened at 12th of this month. A team of three officers had caught a man from Mullassery with three litres of liquor while patrolling in a taxi car. While questioning him, it became clear that the liquor was bought from a woman.

When the woman's house was inspected, 12 bottles of beer were found. The officials decided to file a case against the first person whom they caught. All the documents were prepared except for mahasar and the woman and her relative were made witnesses. According to the intelligence report, the woman's relative intervened and settled the case and the officials accepted money for it. It is also reported that the seized liquor was brought to the office and shared.

The Excise inspector called a staff meeting on 20th of this month after suspecting that the EI & IB department of Excise was aware of the incident. Officials suspected that the driver and a civil excise officer were behind the leak. In the meeting, the driver’s name was mentioned and was threatened.

The investigation also revealed that the inspector was drunk while attending the meeting. The incident came to light after the driver filed a complaint with the Deputy Commissioner. Ernakulam Deputy Commissioner has been appointed for a detailed inquiry into the incident.