Liquor syndicates are abetting corruption and are liable to be punished under Section 13 (1) and (2) of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, ACB officials told an ACB court here on Friday. Liquor syndicates are collecting money from wine shops and paying excise officials. In a way, they are abetting the crime, and would attract provisions of the PC Act, they said.

The ACB public prosecutor made the submission to an ACB court while seeking the custody of Dayakar Reddy and four others who were arrested in Yemmiganur of Kurnool district about a week ago.

Quoting from two registers seized from the office of a liquor syndicate, ACB officials said the syndicate paid `7 lakh as bribes, including Rs 1.93 lakh to excise officials and Rs 95,000 to the police in December 2011 alone. Bribes were paid to excise cops and the police regularly from July 2010 to December 2011 at Warangal, according to the confession of Pingali Mohan Reddy, a liquor syndicate in-charge of Warangal. “Licences are issued by the excise superintendent. I paid Rs 4 lakh to excise inspector Vijaya Chandar (now retired) for obtaining licences for four shops,” he said.