Pydhonie police raids four illegal gambling dens following complaints from residents, says their collective business amounted to Rs 60 lakh a day
Pydhonie police raids four illegal gambling dens following complaints from residents, says their collective business amounted to Rs 60 lakh a day
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After incessant complaints from residents that several people in the neighbourhood are burning big bucks in gambling dens, and running into huge debts, the Pydhonie police raided the region's gambling hotspots late last night.
Locals help carry the electronic gadgets seized by the police from the gambling dens at Pydhonie last night
Police teams raided four gambling dens at around 12.30 am last night and arrested 13 persons, including the licence holder for a lottery shop, Ashok Somani. They recovered cash worth Rs 50,000 from his establishment.
The police have also seized two TV sets, eight computers, four hard discs and 12 mobile phones from the forays.
Officials said that the aggregate business in the dens added up to nearly Rs 60 lakh every day.
"In the last couple of weeks, we received several complaints from family members saying that their kin either lost all the money in these dens or borrowed it only to run into losses," said Shamsher Pathan, senior police inspector, Pydhonie police station.
A measure of the vice's severity can be gauged from an instance last week, when a man who had incurred a debt of Rs 13 lakh just by betting, tried to commit suicide. But his attempt was foiled by his family members.
High odds
Police officials said that the odds were inordinately high in these gambling fronts.
Usually the betting odds are 1:5, but here they were 1:9, the promise of lavish spoils attracting more people. Several locals were simply addicted to the game, residents of the region said.
Moreover, the dens would open eight times a day, fuelling the activity to feverish levels.
"The lottery system opened every three hours, which means more business for the owners and mounting losses for those indulging in the gambling," said another senior police official.
The arrested accused were booked under various sections of the Gambling Act and will be produced in court for remand today.
Meanwhile, the police have written to the BMC to ascertain if any of the dens had licences for operating lottery. Cops said they are engaged in getting rid of these illegal hubs.
"Gambling is proving to be a menace in the area. We are trying to wipe out these mushrooming dens from every lane," said Pathan.
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