Police find gambling machine, arrest three

A North Little Rock woman and two men were arrested Wednesday and charged in running a gambling house out of a gas station off Arkansas 161 in North Little Rock.

Diorinda O. Silber, 57; Saleem R. Shaik, 26; and Athar Hamid Anjum, 49, were arrested on felony charges of keeping a gambling house Wednesday, according to arrest records.

Anjum and Silber face two counts of the gambling charge; Shaik faces one.

All three were transported Wednesday to the Pulaski County jail, but only Anjum remained there Friday in lieu of $2,500 bond, according to the jail’s roster.

According to a warrant for their arrest, three undercover officers went into the Valero gas station Monday at 2541 Arkansas 161 in North Little Rock and used a digital gambling machine with the help of three attendants.

One undercover officer played $20 of North Little Rock Police Department funds and won back $66 from the gambling machine, which was inside the gas station, according to the warrant for Anjum’s arrest.

Anjum, a Louisiana resident, verified the winnings and gave the officer the money from the front register, court documents said.

A second undercover officer said he played $20 at the gas station on the same day, won back $12 and Anjum verified the winnings and gave the officer money from the register, according to court documents.

The same day, a third undercover officer who won $46 using the illegal gambling machine said another attendant told him he would have to return when an owner was present to get his winnings, court documents said.

When the officer returned later, he said Shaik told him he would have to buy $10 in store merchandise to get $36 in cash, according to the Bryant man’s warrant.

One of the undercover officers returned to the store that day and used $30 to win two tickets for a total of $7, according to the warrant for Silber’s arrest. Silber, a North Little Rock resident, told the officer she would have to buy $2 worth of merchandise to get $5 in winnings, court documents said.