Ahead of Diwali, the Delhi Police have busted an illegal casino running in the posh south Delhi locality of Sainik Farms.
The casino provided gamblers the option of trying their luck in various games — roulette, blackjack, teen patti and bakra — and quoted a minimum entry fee of Rs.5 lakh, claimed the police.
Liquor served
without permit
The absconding owners are also accused of serving liquor without permit. Among the 36 people arrested are the staff members and affluent businessmen from different parts of the country. Police have purportedly seized 11 luxury vehicles, 23 bottles of foreign-made liquor and gambling chips worth Rs.1.36 crore.
Acting on a tip off, a joint police team of Neb Sarai and Malviya Nagar conducted a raid at J-255 in Sainik Farms in the early hours of Sunday. The raiding party allegedly found around two dozen people playing on five tables in the casino premises.
“We have also seized 250 packets of playing cards, wheels, spinning balls and other tools used in a casino,” said Ishwar Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South). During interrogation, the arrested persons revealed that they were part of a WhatsApp group of 20 members that shared casino locations.
Entry fee
The group members never added any unknown person in the group. They would decide the location and other information about the gambling on the group itself, the officer added. The casino was publicised by word-of-mouth.
“The entry fee of the casino group was Rs.5 lakh. After the entry fee, a player had to purchase gambling chips worth Rs.1 lakh each. All kinds of logistics were taken care of by the organisers,” said Nupur Prasad, the Additional Deputy Commissioner Police-I (south).
Two cases under the Delhi Gambling Act and Delhi Excise Act have been registered at Neb Sarai police station. The main accused and owner of the premises, Harender Kaushik, and one of the proprietors and casino partner, Kunal Chandra, are yet to be arrested.
11 luxury vehicles,
23 bottles of foreign made liquor and gambling chips worth Rs.1.36 crore seized
