A 75-year-old physically challenged man and his son have been arrested for allegedly running a betting racket in south-east Delhi’s Sangam Vihar.
Police said the father, Ram Snehi Lal, was allegedly the kingpin of the racket and had involved his son Chotte in the illegal business.
Lal claimed to be an astrologer and was running the business from his house on the pretext of predicting the future for customers.
Previous raids
The police were aware that a racket was going on in the area but “during previous raids, the man often took advantage of his disability to claim that he was innocent. He was never caught as he used to pose as an astrologer and said that the people visiting his office were clients,” said a senior police officer.
The police said that the duo were finally arrested after they got a tip-off from a local about a racket being run from a house near Munna Chowk in Sangam Vihar.
Around 9.30 pm on Saturday, police raided the house and found around 10 people outside Lal’s house. When Lal was asked to explain why so many people were present at his house, he again tried to use his excuse of being an astrologer.
“We found a register of the betting entries and confronted Lal with that. On further questioning, he admitted to his role,” the officer said.
Besides the father-son duo, three others were arrested for gambling. Money was also recovered from the house.
