In a major crackdown against organised crime, the police on Friday arrested a four-member gang involved in the illegal sale of lottery in the city and seized 990 banned tickets, two laptops and printers from them.
A manhunt has been launched for the remaining accomplices who are absconding.
Addressing a press conference, Senior Senior Superintendent of Police (Law and Order) Rajiv Ranjan said investigation revealed that an organised gang of about 8-10 high-profile people were behind the racket.
A special team headed by Superintendent of North Rachna Singh was entrusted with the task of collecting more information in this regard.
Acting on a tip-off, a team led by Circle Inspector L.V. Senthil Kumar arrested the lottery peddlers Balu alias Balagopalan and Senthil alias Senthilkumar who were selling the banned tickets near the Indira Gandhi Government General Hospital.
On seeing the police, the duo started fleeing. The police managed to nab them. Preliminary investigations by the police revealed the involvement of a lottery cartel in selling the tickets.
Mr. Ranjan said the accused identified as Ravikumar, Krishnamoorthy, Krishnan, Saravanan, M.K. Azhagar alias Govindaraj, Krishnan, Sriram, Palani and Sakthivel ran the cartel and divided the city into seven zones for their operations.
Based on the information provided by Balagopalan and Senthilkumar, the police arrested Ravikumar, Krishnamoorthy, Krishnan and Saravanan during a surprise raid while Azhagar, Krishnan, Sriram, Palani and Sakthivel managed to escape.
As many as 990 banned lottery tickets, result papers, two laptops and printers and software were seized from the accused.
Krishnamoorthy and Govindaraj allegedly procured the lottery tickets from one Dhanalakshmi agency in Walayar, Kerala and distributed them to the 50 street-level peddlers who sold them to a dedicated clientele, comprising daily wage labourers
The tickets were sold in denominations ranging from Re. 1 to Rs. 100 and the results were declared online at 2.30 p.m. daily.
Each of the peddlers sold the tickets by foot or on bicycles with average sales of Rs. 50,000 per day. A minimal one per cent of the buyers were declared winners while the monthly turnover of Rs. 7.5 crore was shared among the gang. Cases have been registered against the accused under Sections 420, 468, 353, 332 and 109 of Indian Penal Code.
People can also report on any organised crime in the city on the toll free number 1031.
The name, identity and the number of caller will be kept confidential, Mr. Ranjan added.
Earlier, Inspector General of Police Kannan Jagadeesan visited the Orleanpet police station to take stock of the situation.
