Central Crime Branch (CCB) officials raided two hotels in Gandhinagar here late on Friday night and busted an inter-State gambling ring involving 59 businessmen from Gujarat.
The police seized Rs. 15.36 lakh in cash and gambling tokens worth Rs. 2.92 crore during the raid.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Hemanth Nimbalkar told The Hindu that the gambling ring was professionally run and the police were themselves surprised at the scale of the operation and the logistics.
He said tokens worth Rs. 2.92 crore could have easily spun off a turnover of more than Rs. 15 crore, making it one of the biggest gambling rings busted in the city.
Police have also arrested the alleged kingpin of the gambling ring, Dinesh Shah (59), hailing from Ahmedabad. The other 59 gamblers arrested hail from business communities in Ahmedabad and Surat, police sources said.
Police investigations revealed that the businessmen, along with Mr. Shah, arrived in Bangalore on Friday afternoon, took two luxury buses and reached the two hotels — Araf Inn and Chetan International Hotel — where 53 rooms and a party hall had been booked.
The gambling (Teen Patti ) was in full swing in the party hall of Chetan International Hotel when CCB sleuths raided the hotel. The police have also arrested Mohammed Rafiq, manager of Araf Inn Hotel, and Shivanand, manager of Chetan International Hotel. However, the owners of the hotels Prem Kumar and Bairegowda respectively are absconding. Mr. Nimbalkar said the police have also recovered nearly 1 kg of ganja and crates of liquor. They have been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.
