Gambling den busted on MG Road, 58 held

NEWDELHI: In a late night search on Sunday at a hotel in south Delhi’s Mehrauli-gurgaon Road, Delhi Police busted a gambling den and arrested 58 people who were taking part in a gambling session there. A sum of ₹11 lakh cash and more than 6,000 tokens were also seized from the spot.

Police said the den was being run by three men, who used to invite people to the gambling sessions via a Whatsapp group. As the trio kept changing the locations of these sessions, the invitees were given a location on the app that was close to the gambling den and a pointsman used to guide the guests further to the establishment where the sessions were on. All this was done to maintain secrecy and evade the law, police said.

Deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Devender Arya said they searched the hotel in Ghitorni following a tip-off and found as many as 58 people involved in gambling in the hotel’s basement.

Arya said they cordoned off the basement and arrested all 58 people. Most of them are residents of Mehrauli, Ghitorni, Lodhi Road, Gurugram, Saket and Vasant Kunj. More than ₹11 lakh cash, over 6,000 casino-style tokens and 65 cellphones were recovered from the spot, he said.

“During investigation, it was revealed that the gambling racket was being run by three men — Sajid (35) of Mehrauli, Dinesh Kumar (40) of Vasant Kunj and one Jagjeet, who only uses his first name. We are yet to arrest Jagjeet. Sajid and Dinesh told us that to maintain secrecy about their operations, they would change their location frequently,” the DCP said. Members were added to the group only based on recommendations

The gang would share the location of the gambling den to invitees a day before the session and a pointsman was assigned to meet and guide the guests to the place of assembly The police said they will also take action against the management of the hotel

Arya said the gang had shifted to the hotel a day before it was busted and previously operated from many locations in south Delhi. “Action is also being taken against the hotel,” he said.

The DCP said the suspects used to invite people through a closed Whatsapp group.

“Members were added to the group only based on recommendations. They then shared the location of the gambling den to the invitees a day before the session and a pointsman was assigned to meet and guide the guests to the place of assembly,” he said.