Gambling den busted, 21 arrested; Rs 41 lakh seized

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 29

The city police busted a gambling racket and recovered Rs 41 lakh during a raid at a farmhouse in RB estate on the Loharka road here on Friday night.

The police made a video of the entire raid in which 21 gamblers were arrested from the farmhouse. They were, however, released on bail following a preliminary probe. Besides some local residents, other accused belonged to Ludhiana, Tarn Taran and Batala areas.

The raid was led by Additional Deputy Commissioners of Police Dr Mehtab Singh and Prabhjot Singh Virk.

Virk said gambling was going on at the farmhouse when the police teams raided the complex. He said besides playing cards and cash, the police also recovered a cash counting machine from the spot. He said it was a record seizure of cash in any such raid. The police would also write to the Income Tax Department, besides investigating other aspects during the probe.

Those arrested were identified as Vijay Handa, a resident of Rose Resort, Majitha Road, Shivam Arora of Jujhar Singh Avenue, Ajnala Road, Sohail of Mabool Road, Sahil of Jawahar Nagar, Ludhiana, Lovish of Guru Bazaar, Tarn Taran, Amit Kumar of Kartar Shah Colony, Batala, Sunil Kumar of Prem Nagar, Batala, Amit Bajaj of Holy City here, Ajay Kumar of RB Estate, Loharaka Road, Harjot Singh of Model Town, Rani Ka Bagh here, Gaurav Agarwal and Rishi Kumar of Thathiari Gate of Batala, Sunny of Lawrence Road, Amit Agarwal of Gopala Nagar, Batala, Jagga Singh of Chowki village in Ludhiana, Gagandeep Singh of Noordin Adda, Tarn Taran, Varinder Singh of Lalwandi Chogla, Batala, Sher Singh of Kot Mit Singh, Sanjiv Kumar of Khuh Bambay Wala, Rahul Kanda of Jandiala Road, Tarn Taran and Nitish Chopra of RB Estate.

It is pertinent to mention here that many residents indulge in gambling ahead of Diwali in the city as many such gambling dens have mushroomed in different areas. People from upper strata of society are engaged in playing it at high-end hotels, resorts and individual houses. If police sources are to be believed, unscrupulous elements in the hospitality sector, low-rung politicians and people with criminal background organize such parties with heavy entry fee and even turning houses in residential areas into a gambling den to escape the attention of the authorities concerned.

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