People hooked to playing lottery are their prey. And the quarry appears to be in abundance. Despite a slim chance of winning, thousands of hopefuls, fuelled by an intoxicating amalgam of habit, faith and addiction, buy State-printed numbered lottery tickets in scores every week believing they would hit the elusive jackpot.
A gambling underworld now wants a piece of the big pie, says Circle Inspector, Fort, V. Reji Kumar who busted the franchise of an illegal betting racket in the capital on Monday.
The prime suspect in the case is a big name among the 40,000 odd authorised sellers in the State. The arrest was just the tip of the ice-berg and there could be more of his ilk, Mr. Kumar said.
According to police, the lottery agent employed scores of bookies whose job was to approach speculators in downtown localities and write down their bets after taking money. Hence the name, ‘ezhuthu lottery.’
The bookie would jot down a three-digit number cited by the gambler. He charged Rs.10 for one entry in the book. If the 3-digit numerical formed the tail end of a first prize winning lottery number, the bookie paid the speculator Rs.5,000. The rates for second and third prizes are Rs.500 and Rs.250 respectively.
Victory chances nil
Investigators said the chances of winning the gamble was almost nil. The bookies were paid a 20 per cent commission on their earnings. The rest of the money went to the racket. Hope of a win and low bets kept speculators playing the game in vain.
The illegal betting racket was transacted through mobile phones and WhatsApp messaging groups making it difficult to detect or stop. The money involved could run into crores. V. Suresh Kumar, Assistant Commissioner, Control Room, supervised the bust.
