Anto Augustine arrested by Excise in Abkari case

Excise officials from Wayanad took into custody Anto Augustine, 38, managing director of Malayalam news channel Reporter TV, on Thursday (September 17, 2026) morning on charges of alleged possession of liquor in excess of the legally permissible limit.

He was taken into custody around 5 a.m. from the channel’s office at Kalamassery in Ernakulam. The move followed the reported recovery of 67 litres of liquor — beyond the permissible limit for possession — from his ancestral residence in Muttil South Village, Vythiri Taluk, Wayanad, on Wednesday (September 16, 2026) during a search operation conducted by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). The SIT is probing the alleged financial fraud linked to the failed bid to bring the Argentine national team and Lionel Messi to Kochi for an international friendly last year.