Bengaluru, April 22 | In a rare move, the Bengaluru Central Crime Branch has arrested a person under the provisions of the Goonda Act for running illegal gambling dens across the city, the police said on Wednesday.

According to the police, this was the first case in Karnataka in which a gambling den operator has been arrested under the provisions of the ‘Karnataka Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug-Offenders, Gamblers, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders, Slum-Grabbers And Video Or Audio Pirates Act, 1985’, which is popularly known as Goonda Act in common parlance.

According to the police, the arrested person has been identified as Hariraj Shetty, 58, a resident of Bengaluru.

A police officer told IANS that Shetty has been booked for more than a dozen times since 2014 for running gambling dens at various places in Bengaluru.

“He played a role in setting up illegal gambling dens and video game parlours across Bengaluru and is the mastermind behind many crimes associated with gambling, such as extorting money from both the losers and the winners,” the officer said.

The police have registered a case and further investigation is on.

Source: IANS