Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Jalandhar, Sheetal Angural has now been cleared of charges in a gambling case registered under various sections of the Gambling Act due to lack of evidence.
Sheetal along with ten other individuals were arrested under suspicion of illegal gambling during the Covid pandemic after a police raid on a house belonging to a man named Golu in Kot Sadiq. During the raids, the police seized over two lakh in cash.
Angural argues that Congress devised these gambling allegations against him. I had faith in our judicial system and believed that I would get justice. Today, I have been acquitted,” he said. He also claims that the arrest was only undertaken in response to political pressure.
Other individuals arrested with Angural were identified as Baldev Raj, Vivek Mahajan, Kapil Kumar Monty, Atul, Deepak Deepa, Sukhpreet Singh, Naveen Mahajan, Ajay Verma and Kriti Goswami.
At the time of the arrest, he was a member of the BJP and a former member of the national executive of the SC front. After hearing the news of his arrest, several supporters assembled outside of Bhargo Police Station, which prompted the police to take action against them. The group was also charged under section 144 of the IPC.
This is not the first time a politician has faced heat regarding links with illegal gambling activities. Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Bhagel also faced a lot of backlash after he was accused of helping operatives for Mahadev Book, the biggest illegal betting network in the country.
Most recently, BJP Maharashtra’s president Chandrashekhar Bawankule was also criticised after a picture of him sitting in a casino was shared online.
