Union Law Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda on Sunday demanded that the State government should handover the episode related to illegal operations of lottery to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Mr. Gowda suspected that illegal lottery operations would not have thrived in the State without the patronage of politicians and maintained that it was not possible for the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) that is presently probing the issue to expose such a link.
He said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had taken a stand that operation illegal lottery was a serious crime and hence all those involved in it should be identified besides being seriously punished. There was a dire need for a wider probe into the issue to identify the culprits, he said.
When asked about the allegations that a former DGP who has identified himself with the BJP after his retirement too has a role in illegal lottery operations, Mr. Gowda said there was no question of the Party protecting anybody.
The State government has already suspended senior IPS officer Alok Kumar for his alleged role in illegal lottery operations following the report of CID that several police officers are involved in this racket.
