Hindustan Times (Lucknow)

Gambling den in city busted, 6 held

The operator, who was on police radar, functioned from a rented house in LDA Colony

- ▪ lkoreporte­rsdesk@hindustant­imes.com

LUCKNOW: Gambling den operators are now setting up shop in rented houses in densely populated residentia­l areas.

The multiple approach routes to such localities help the den operators to deploy their watchmen on rooftops and turns, who alert them whenever police raid the spots.

On Saturday midnight, the city police unearthed one such gambling den operationa­l in a rented house in Sector D of LDA colony on Kanpur Road under Krishna Nagar police station and arrested 6 people, including the key operator of the gambling den, Zuber Ahmad, popularly known as ‘Bhai Jaan’ among gamblers.

Others arrested were Santosh Kumar, Rajesh Kumar, Mohd Azad, Gore Yadav and Vipin Kumar. Cops recovered ₹ 1.73 lakh put by the gamblers on a single stake .

Inspector of Krishna Nagar police station, Anjani Kumar Pandey said the police were trying to track Zuber Ahmad for the past several weeks and finally nabbed him on the specific tip off about his presence in the house (DS 572, Sector D of LDA colony).

He said Zuber Ahmad deployed his informers and watchmen at strategic points on the routes leading to the house to keep an eye on movement of police whenever he organized a gamblers’ gathering.

He said the informers and watchmen tipped him off when the police moved in for raid and the gamblers dispersed swiftly.

Pandey said mostly traders, contractor­s and builders visited Zuber’s gambling den. He said Zuber’s informers’ network was so strong that the gamblers paid him extra for organizing safe gatherings. He said Zuber always made his den in rented houses and kept on changing it frequently after a few months.

He said the operator always opted to rent houses which had multiple approach routes and were located in a densely populated residentia­l locality that helped him dodge the police each time. He said the present house

where the gambling den was unearthed was taken on rent from one Sardar Vijendra Singh only a month ago.

He said the house owner had been called for questionin­g to ascertain whether or not he was aware about the gambling den .

The inspector said the fool proof plan was chalked after taking lessons from several failed attempts to nab Zuber in the past.

“We planted some of our men as decoy gamblers and collected specific informatio­n about Zuber and his den before the raid,” he said .

 ?? HT PHOTO ?? ▪ The arrested gamblers with the police at the Krishna Nagar police station in Lucknow on Sunday.
HT PHOTO ▪ The arrested gamblers with the police at the Krishna Nagar police station in Lucknow on Sunday.

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