Thiruvananthapuram, Former Excise Commissioner Seeram Sambasiva Rao, shortly before being relieved from the post, had submitted a report to the state government alleging corruption and collection of bribes by two senior officials of the Excise Department, officials said on Saturday.
The report identified the bar owner as Ratheesh and stated that he was known to the Excise Minister. Meanwhile, CPI state secretary M V Govindan alleged that the disclosures in the former commissioner’s report pointed to the involvement of the Excise Minister in the alleged corruption in the department. The owner of Roma Centre Bar at Kattachira in Kayamkulam was allegedly asked to pay ₹ 30,000 during the deputy commissioner’s inspection visits, it said, according to the information received by Rao.
S Vinod, who served as Joint Excise Commissioner , allegedly maintained close links with the owner of Ganga Bar in Muvattupuzha and acted as a liaison for the establishment in matters related to its licence, according to the report. The former commissioner had named officials allegedly collecting money from bar owners and had also referred to a bar owner known to the minister, Govindan said. “The minister must give a clear answer to these allegations,” Govindan said.
In the report submitted to the government on Friday, Rao also mentioned that Excise Minister M Liju was acquainted with one of the bar owners allegedly involved in the transactions.
