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Karnataka lottery scam: With deep tentacles, will this scam end so easily?

Nobody knows the origin of this trade which has spread its tentacles across the State

Bengaluru: It was a business which ran purely on trust. Nobody knows the origin of this trade which has spread its tentacles across the State. This business had been thriving due to the catchy line of Karnataka state lottery 'fast draw, fast money'. The government was getting tax from the sale of lotteries but not a single paisa from single-digit lotteries.

After the State government banned all kinds of lotteries in 2007, single-digit lotteries from several north Eastern states became an instant hit. It did not matter much for lottery addicts since they wanted to invest money in gambling anyway.

These lotteries were sold across petty shops to regular customers with or without the knowledge of law enforcing agencies. Unlike weekly or fortnightly draw of the state lottery, the single-digit lotteries went for a draw every half an hour to one hour and the winning numbers were intimated to agents. That information was provided to buyers by shop-keepers.

A senior IPS officer of the rank of ADGP told Deccan Chronicle that single-digit lotteries were printed in some states but sold in neighboring states without the fear of law. The printed lotteries were reaching all important district HQs after passing through check posts set up either by police or other government agencies. The lottery agents were getting bundles of lottery tickets much in advance.

The officer said the sleuths of lottery and enforcement cell used to conduct raids for 'name-sake' and booked cases just for the record. In fact, the single-digit lottery is still going on in many places including Bengaluru city.

The enforcement cell knows every agent involved in this business but do not want to curb it for various reasons. The kingpins of this lottery business would be sitting somewhere and controlling the whole business. "You may arrest some agents but reaching out to the kingpins is quite difficult. Their network is more swift than that of police".

The officer said "a few years ago, Hubli police seized nearly a half truck load of the printed single-digit lottery from a house. Those lotteries belonged to Meghalaya, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Bhutan and Sikkim. But the police could not go further deep into it due to non-availability of information about kingpins. The arrested persons were later released for want of evidence.

( Source : dc )
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