Bengaluru: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths have busted a gambling racket, involving businessmen from Gujarat, on Friday late night in the Majestic area. The value of the property seized in the raid is estimated to be more than Rs 1 crore. The police conducted the raid following a tip-off and it is suspected that they even have Hawala links.
Preliminary investigation by the cops revealed that around 59 Ahmedabad-based businessmen came to Bengaluru by a special flight and landed at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) at 11 am on Friday. They had pre-booked an SRS Travels Bus to travel from the airport to the city and also booked 53 rooms in Hotel Arafa Inn in Gandhinagar, and 5th floor of Hotel Chethan International on Race Course Road near Turf club.
The CCB cops followed the gang and patiently waited to catch them red-handed.
The police then raided the hotel rooms around midnight and found extensive organized gambling with cash and tokens (hundreds of them in denominations of Rs 2,000, Rs 5,000 and up till Rs 20,000 and more). The police seized Rs 15.5 lakh in cash, chest of tokens worth Rs 1 crore, playing cards, packets of marijuana, liquor bottles, mattresses, suspicious powders, and dry snacks.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Abhishek Goyal said the main accused and the king-pin of this racket was a 59-year-old man named Dinesh Shah, a native of Ahmedabad. The 58 others along with Mohammed Rafik, manager of Arafa Inn and Shivananda, manager of Chethan International hotel were arrested as well. To ascertain more details and how they contacted each other and their suspected Hawala links are also being probed. We are yet to ascertain how and from where the tokens were bought, and the investigation will have to be made in Ahmedabad as well, he added.
Prem Kumar, another manager of Arafa Inn and Byre Gowda, owner of Chethan International are said to be absconding. The main accused Shah had made all advance bookings in the hotel and return flight tickets were also found with the accused, the CCB sleuths added.
