Hyderabad: Labour minister Ch Malla Reddy’s brother and 12 others were caught by a North Zone task force team following a raid on gambling dens in Bowenpally Wednesday afternoon.
Officials seized Rs 1.40 lakh cash, and 13 mobile phones.
According to police officials, Chamakura Narsimha Reddy, the minister’s brother, was caught along with Kowdi Sailu, B. Narsimha Rao, S. Hanumanthu, B. Sudarshan Reddy, K. Mohan Reddy, V. Bhaskar Reddy, K. Govardhan Reddy, B. Janardhan Reddy, P. Srinivasa Raju, E.Vengal Reddy, K. Narsi Reddy and Battini Krishna.
“We conducted the raid following a tip-off from a reliable source and reached a shed opposite Malla Reddy Garden in Kamsari Bazaar area in Old Bowenpally. We seized Rs. 1,40,740 from the place,” said officials.
The apprehended men, along with the seized cash, were handed over to Bowenpally law and order police for further investigation.
Soon after the formation of the state in August 2014, Chief Minister, K. Chandrashekhar Rao had announced a crackdown on prominent gambling clubs, especially in the city. Aside from the Public Gambling Act, 1867, Telangana also uses the Andhra Pradesh Gaming Act of 1974, which defines gambling as an act of betting or wagering for money and prohibits the use of land-based premises for making profits or gains on gambling. There is a fine for the offence or one month’s imprisonment under the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).
