Online gambling busts in India

Indian police in the Thane rural area arrested six men in a swoop on an illegal online gambling ring Friday.

A police spokesman, Superintendent Anil Kumbhare, said the local crime branch raided the Chakra Online, Game King Online and Baba Online illegal enterprises located in shops at Mira Road and Nalla Sopara to arrest six men, two of whom were gamblers using the online facilities.

“We received a tip-off that six men were illegally operating three online casinos and were taking bets. We sent a team posing as customers, which raided the illegal establishments at Shanti Shopping Centre in Mira Road and Sai Vibhuti building in Nalla Sopara east,” the spokesman said, revealing that the raiding party had seized 19 computers and other evidence.

The six accused have been identified as Muddasar Shaikh (26), Mithu Mandal (34), Shailesh Mishra (32), Arjun Yadav (22), Suresh Boricha (38), and Upendra Mandal (35).

They have been booked under various sections of the Lotteries Regulation Act, Bombay Prevention of Gambling Act, the Information Technology Act, and Section 420 (cheating) of the IPC.

Kumbhare said that the accused invited people to play games online and would charge every new entrant Rs 500 as registration charges. As many as 100 to 150 people visit the outlet regularly for gambling, he said.

The Superintendent said that the involvement of international operators could not be ruled out, and IT specialists were assisting the police in tracking down the people behind the servers.

“This will be revealed while investigating the case further,” he said. “The police are trying to figure out where the gambling originated and the location of its main server.”

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