With the arrest of 10 persons, police today claimed to have busted a gambling syndicate operating in Delhi-NCR.
The alleged syndicate, led by one Shahnawaz, had been operating with around 50 betting 'punters' working from their hideouts at Patel Nagar, Okhla, Faridabad and several other locations. Each punter had around 150 regular clients for betting, said a police officer.
The syndicate was busted after a raid at a building in northeast Delhi's Bhajanpura area, where the accused were working in the garb of a call centre, said Sanjay Beniwal, Joint Commissioner of Police (East).
The accused who were arrested after the raid have been identified as Sunil Kumar (24), Shakeel (18), Shahrukh (19), Arshad (19), Nazeem (21), Hashib (32), Mohd. Imtiaz (19), Varun (22) and Hassan (38). The police recovered around Rs 13.60 lakh, several mobile phones and two laptops from their possession, Beniwal added.
According to the police, the syndicate allegedly worked with the help of a computer software name GAME and their clients had to place bets on random numbers. The winner was promised an amount 90 times the value of his bet. The syndicate worked in three shifts of eight hours each and one winner was announced in every shift.
It is also suspected that the syndicate used to manipulate the system and made sure that the winning numbers were those with the lowest stake on it, said a police officer.
The police also suspects that the syndicate is linked with similar gambling rackets being run from certain parts of Haryana and Punjab.
"A case under relevant sections of Gambling Act has been registered. Further investigation is underway," said DCP (northeast) Veenu Bansal.
