The Goa police busted an online gambling racket and arrested nine individuals on Sunday, November 12. The group involved in illegal activities was operating from a house in Dhuler-Mapusa in North Goa. During the raid, the police seized five mobile handsets and laptops amounting to Rs 3.5 lakh.

The raid was conducted by a police task force consisting of PSIs Gaurav Naik, Dineshkumar Mukhiya, Viraj Korgaonkar, Yashwant Mandrekar, Sunil Patil, HC Sushant Chopdekar, constables Rajesh Kandolkar, Akshay Patil, Prakash Polekar and Laxmikant Naik.

Talking about the incident, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Jivba Dalvi said, “After receiving information about the online gambling taking place in that area, we raided a house and apprehended accused who were carrying out online gambling activities by using mobile hand sets and laptops”.

The arrested individuals were identified as Pankaj Kumar, Anish Giri, Rahul Jagatram Thakur, Pratik Suresh Baghel, Mohammad Ahamd, Prakash Sundarlal Mirjha and David Mohanlal Sahu from Chhattisgarh along with Raja Manoj Kumar Bharma from Jharkhand and Binkesh Sitaram Bhimte from Madhya Pradesh.

All of the arrested individuals have been booked under sections 3 and 4 of Digital Personal Data Protection (GDDPG) Act and other appropriate acts as per oheraldo.

Festivals are prime occasions for these illegal betting and gambling operators to run promotions, gain visibility and traffic. People usually fall for these dubious offers and do not conduct their due diligence.

There are many illegal betting platforms which are being operated in India. Mahadev Book is one of those which hosts over 60 illegal betting and gambling apps and websites. The Centre has now banned it, along with 21 other similar platforms.