The Mumbai Police Crime Branch has been instructed to take over investigations of 14 Matka gambling cases in order to put a halt to the gambling activities in the city. The order was recently issued by the Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Suhas Warke following directions from Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar, according to the latest reports.

The social service unit of the police department has conducted 14 raids on Matka dens all across the city to apprehend the mastermind of the operations, but so far has been unsuccessful in their attempts. Now, the police have been asked to nail the main operator who flashes the lottery numbers online to determine the winner of the gambling event.

“Nobody knows who flashes those lottery numbers on the sattamatka website. For several years, we thought that Matka queen Jaya Chedda, the wife of Suresh Bhagat, was doing it but it appears she is not managing it,” said the officer. “Even if we detain these masterminds or operators for 24 hours, the numbers are regularly flashed on the website,” said an officer.

Earlier, following the raids, several participants and book-makers were arrested after cases were registered against them at the police station, but they were released on bail soon after the arrests as bailable sections are applicable in these cases. The book-makers indulge in the gambling business again as soon as they are released.

The operators have so far deceived the officials and the customers in their attempt to avoid being nabbed by the police, do not mention their names or details, instead use their signatures, and after the participant has guessed the correct lottery number, they are rewarded with cash.

“To avoid getting trapped, the customers do not mention their name, instead hand over the sheet to the book-maker with a signature. If the number that the customer has guessed is a lottery number, the respective customer is rewarded with cash,” concluded the officer as quoted by The Indian Express.