Gambling den run by woman raided, ₹5L seized; 19 held

A special team from the Thane (rural) police, raided a gambling den late on Monday night, which had been operating from an under construction building site, located a stone’s throw away from the Mira Road police station. Acting on a tip-off a police team led by ASP Atul Kulkarni under the instructions of SP Dr Mahesh Patil and Addl SP Prashant Kadam, swooped down on the ground floor of Geeta Heights, an abandoned construction project and apprehended 18 people who were caught red handed while placing monetary bets in card games.

One of the accused gamblers is said to be the local office bearer of a political party. Interestingly the den was operated by a woman identified as Shaina Mohammed Shaikh alias Shanno (39) with the help of her two cronies Sukesh Anna and Bharat Shetty. The police later arrested Shanno, however Sukesh and Bharat managed to evade the police dragnet. Apart from gambling material, the police team seized cash amounting to more than Rs 5 lakh giving indications about the extent of gambling that was going on right under the nose of local cops.

“While a case under relevant sections of the Bombay Prevention of Gambling Act has been registered against all the accused, a man hunt has been launched to nab the absconding duo,” said ASP Atul Kulkarni. Investigations are on to ascertain the role of the property owner who let such illegal activities in his premise, police said.

Apart from gambling material, the police team seized cash giving indications about the extent of gambling that was going on right under the nose of local cops