Team Herald
PANJIM: The Crime Branch of the Goa Police conducted multiple raids at different places across the State against matka gambling and arrested 12 bookies while accepting bets.
Besides arresting the matka bookies, the crime branch for the first time also booked the main kingpins of the trade that included a woman from Mumbai and two others from Gujarat.
“ While the woman Jaya Chadda operates the Main Kalyan from Mumbai, Maharashtra, Chandubhai Thakkar alias D’Sa and Ganeshyam Bhai operate from Gujarat and are the dealers of Main bazaar which operates at night. Jaya is the wife of Suresh Bhagat who was also known as the Kalyan Matka King ,” said a Crime Branch official.
Police stated that all the three have national and international connections and operate from any part of the world where there is matka and said a legal process is on to get them down from Mumbai and Gujarat as they have underworld connections.
“The 12 bookies whom we have arrested rattled the names of the main dealers whom they were operating for,” said a Crime Branch official. The raids were conducted at Panjim, Mapusa, Porvorim, Margao, Vasco, Ponda, Mandrem, Pernem, and 12 cases were booked.
Rs 26,480 in cash and other matka gambling articles, including computers were seized from the bookies.
FIRs registered against the bookies, accepting the bets, also include the names of their agents/handlers in Goa, namely Anna, Paresh, Subhash, Nilesh, Mousin, Gulzar, Appu Tiwari, Narayan Parab, Somnath and Bharat Toraskar.
Further investigation is in progress under the guidance of PI Tushar Lotlikar and DySP Rajesh Kumar.