Noida: As many as 15 people were arrested for their alleged riled in a
betting racket in JJ Colony near Sector 18 on Wednesday morning. The accused had been betting on card games in a rented accommodation in the area for the last two years, police said.
The accused have been identified as Sachin, Ranveer, Shyam, Devashish, Narendra, Luvlesh, Kulwant, Sushant, Chandan, Rajesh, Naushad, Nirmal, Vijay Bahadur, Kamlesh and Ram Vilas. Doing odd jobs at factories, they lived in rented accomodations in different areas in Noida.
Abhinandan, circle officer Noida-1, said that a woman, identified as Hema, and her husband, Babu, had been running the racket at their shanty in the colony. "They used to call people from the neighbourhood and organise card games. They took commission for each game," he said. The couple used to let their premises for the games.
Police said that they received information about the betting racket and conducted an inspection of the premises.
"A police team reached the spot on Wednesday and found 15 persons involved in betting. The accused tried to escape, but cops immediately apprehended them. Police recovered seven registers, one laptop, three lottery charts, 10 mobile phones and Rs 32,000 from their possession," Abhinandan said. An FIR has been registered against the accused under relevant sections of the Public
Gambling Act at Sector 20 police station.
Hema and Babu, however, managed to escape from the spot. During interrogation, the accused revealed that they used to bet on cards. "The accused had 12 playing cards with certain images like pigeon, cow and kite on each. They used to mix the cards. The betters put stakes on certain photos. The person would win if the first card of the bunch had the photo he betted on," police said.
The other persons lost the bet if the first card did not have the photo they had put money on.
The accused were produced in court and sent to judicial custody on Wednesday evening. Police have launched a search for the absconding couple. Cops said the couple also sometimes cheated those placing bets by secretly manipulating cards. "The arrested accused said Hema and her husband also used online betting apps to dupe people. We are investigating the matter. Once the absconding couple is arrested, we will be able to get more details," a police officer told TOI.
