BEVCO regional manager K Rasha was suspended after it was found that she had illegally accumulated assets worth Rs 65 lakh. The action came after it was found that Rasha had accepted bribes worth lakhs. The vigilance believes that her criminal acquisitions came from kickbacks she hustled from the liquor companies.
The Kerala State Beverages (M&M) Corporation Limited (BEVCO) is a Kerala government company with a monopoly over the purchase and sale/distribution of liquor in Kerala. The corporation is headed by a board of directors nominated by the government. The corporation divides the territory and its sales and warehousing into six regions. A regional manager heads each region.
As a regional manager, Rasha held one of the highest positions in Bevco. Earlier, there was a complaint against Rasha, the regional manager in Perinthalmanna, for illegally acquiring property. Based on this, the Kozhikode Vigilance Special Cell also conducted an investigation. The outcome of that inquiry remains unknown. She is currently posted at Thiruvananthapuram.
A vigilance raid was also conducted at Rasha’s house in Malappuram earlier. Following a persistent investigation, vigilance found that Rasha had taken lakhs of bribes and had acquired illegal assets worth Rs 65 lakhs.
The government issued an order suspending Rasha based on the vigilance report. Earlier, there were allegations that some of the top officials of Bevco were taking money from the liquor companies and promoting those brands. Experts point out that it is difficult to prove such allegations.
Meanwhile, the vigilance found the property of the regional manager to be illegal. Rasha has a total property worth Rs 1 crore, 14 lakh. According to the vigilance report, Rasha legally has property worth Rs 48 lakh. The vigilance found that the remaining Rs 65,32,000 was her ill-gotten wealth.
A regional manager can quickly help liquor companies by taking money from them. However, many such cases go unnoticed because evidence of such transactions remains unavailable. Rasha was caught because she had documents (in her name) relating to illegally acquiring property.
In another incident, Excise Officer Abdul Basheer was suspended for supplying liquor to bootleggers. Basheer is the Nadapuram (in Kozhikode district) Excise Range Preventive Officer.
Damodaran, a Koyilandy native who sells liquor on the black market, was arrested with illegal liquor. Six litres of liquor were also seized from him. Basheer’s name popped up when Damodaran was interrogated.
Basheer handed over the liquor after receiving four thousand rupees from Damodaran. Damodaran was caught when he came in with contraband. He testified that the excise officer handed over the liquor at the Koyaladi bus stand.
Basheer was suspended following Damodaran’s confession. The Perambra Excise Circle Inspector has been directed to conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident. The report is to be submitted within one month.
Though Muslims claim that liquor and gambling are haram (not permitted), they have no misgivings about working in these industries and indulge in corruption.
The Kerala government financially survives on the sale of liquor and the gambling business (lotteries). Most of the state’s income is used to pay the salaries of state government employees. Yet, corrupt officials directly and indirectly deprive us of basic amenities like roads, drinking water and electricity.
With reservations and appeasement policies, a disproportionate percentage of religious minorities have entered public service. They are not interested in the progress of the state or the country. The green communist leaders are numb to the commoner’s pain. Left unchecked, will Kerala go down the Kashmir way?
