Chennai: Hours after a T. Nagar recreation club was shut down by a raiding party deployed by a senior official on Saturday, for alleged gambling activities, the den started functioning again with the blessings of another police officer, sparking a row between police top brass, sources said here on Sunday. Saturday’s raiding team picked up 23 gamblers and seized over Rs9 lakh in cash from the detainees.
“Gamblers and cash from the Mahalakshmi club was handed over to the Teynampet assistant commissioner for further investigation. The raid followed a specific complaint from a police officer whose relative had committed suicide in Venkitagiri in Andhra Pradesh a few weeks ago, after he lost lakhs in the particular club. A woman from AP had also committed suicide after her husband lost huge sums of money at the same club. The complaint was registered at the Chennai police commissioner’s office and when it reached the office of T. Nagar deputy commissioner, a raid was ordered,” police sources said.
But, later, all 23 arrested, rumoured to have close contacts inside the police department, were set free after being booked for a minor case. And, according to sources, the club also started functioning later that night.The opening of the club has led to internal friction between two officers working in the T. Nagar police district. The Mahalakshmi club, functioning from a street off G.N. Road in T. Nagar, has been functioning as the hub of illicit money transactions, police sources have claimed.
“The people involved in the infamous murder of Sankara Raman, manager of the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kancheepuram in 2004, received money sitting in this club,” an officer familiar with the case told this newspaper. Police sources add that despite regular raids and closure of several recreational clubs in T. Nagar, a few establishments continue to function due to their ties with police officers and politicians.
