Man accused of running gambling den

dubai — An Indian clerk, who was allegedly running his flat as a gambling den for cricket matches, was arrested after he went to the police station to lodge a complaint that he had just been robbed of Dh350,000, a court heard.

“The clerk (main accused) came to Al Rafaa police station and claimed that four men went to his flat in the Grand Souq. His wife opened for them and let them in after they posed as CID officers who were searching for drugs,” a police sergeant said.

The sergeant told the prosecutor that the main accused said that the thieves stole Dh350,000 from a safe in the bedroom in his place. They left the jewellery only after his wife begged them to. “The cop impersonators told the main accused he would be summoned to the police station two days later for interrogation”.

The sergeant added : “Six hours after the thieves left his flat, he came to the police station to complain against them. He said he can lead us to one of them, a 41-yearold Pakistani, who should know the other suspects’ whereabouts”.

The police arrested that accused in a sting operation. “He admitted to us, upon arrest, that he worked for the main defendant who ran a gambling den. He claimed he was being paid Dh35,000 a month. He said that his accomplice was receiving gamblers during cricket matches to place bets. He also admitted the big cash that was stolen was part of the gambling revenues,” the sergeant said.

The two men were charged in the Court of First Instance with running a flat as a gambling den and collecting money from gamblers. Prosecutors accused them of using a flat in Al Hamriyah, and arranging it for others to gamble and place bets on cricket matches for which they would collect different amounts of money.

mary@khaleejtimes.com