Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 26 (PTI) An Excise department official was suspended and four others transferred in Kerala on Thursday for their alleged lapses in the investigation into a drug seizure case in Kochi.

The action was taken on the basis of a report prepared by Additional Excise Commissioner A Abdul Rashi, official sources said.

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On Wednesday, Excise Minister M V Govindan had said that no leniency would be shown to officials if they were found to have been negligent in the recent drug bust at a flat in Kochi and strict action would be taken against them.

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It was alleged that some Excise Department officials tried to sabotage the probe to save some people allegedly involved in the smuggling.

Sleuths from the Kerala Excise Enforcement Squad and Customs (Preventive) unit in a joint operation had raided the flat last week and arrested five people who were allegedly in possession of high quality synthetic drugs.

The gang, also comprising a couple, was allegedly involved in bringing huge quantities of high quality synthetic drugs from Chennai for sale in Kochi city and in Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur, Wayanad and Kasaragod districts.

The raid was carried out on August 18 on the basis of specific intelligence inputs, officials said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)