Gambling den busted in Odisha; 12 arrested, over Rs 1 lakh cash seized

Rourkela: Odisha police today busted a gambling den with arrest of a dozen of gamblers and seizure of cash from their possession in Sundargarh district.

The persons arrested for gambling activities have been identified as Balku Sahoo, Tulian Lugun, Ramesh Sahoo, Rajesh Sahoo, Kalakanhu Kumar, Nilakantha Arha, Abinash Rout and Rajesh Mahto — all are residents of Biramitrapur municipality. The remaining six accused are Saiman Kujur, Nitish Sahoo, Nawal Jaiswal are Shiv Prasad Ray. They have been identified as the residents in Raiboga Police Station area.

The gambling den was allegedly being operated at Dhanginacha village under Biramitrapur police limits.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of Biramitrapur Police led by SDPO Nibedita Soren raided the gambling den and apprehended 12 gamblers from the spot. They seized Rs 1,23,770 cash, 11 mobile phones, 3 motorcycles and 17 packs of playing cards from their possession.

All the accused persons have been booked under sections 269/270/34 of IPC and 3 of Orissa Prevention of Gambling (OPG) Act, police said today.