In the first incident, Valpoi police had received a complaint about people gambling in an open area near the Valpoi-Panjim highway at Saleli. A police team led by Dy SP Gajanan Prabhudesai raided the site at 1.40 am. Most of the gamblers managed to flee as the raiding team was small. The six arrested include: Shamkrishna Gawde (Pissurlem), Vasant Naik (Saleli), Shantaram Naik (Old Goa), Sharfoddin Sayyed (Merces), Shankar Ankush Naik (Solye) and Shankar P Naik (Gaonkarwada-Honda).
The arrested were charged with participating in gambling under section 11 (2) 9 (a) of the GPG Act. Police also confiscated gambling paraphernalia and seized cash worth Rs1400 and a car bearing register number GA-07 F-1413. The arrested were released on bail after interrogations.
When asked about the raid, DySP Prabhudesai informed he had received information that the den operated only at night. He also said he would keep a closer watch on Sattari for any illegal activities.
On May 18, the crime branch had raided a gambling den at Honda and arrested 10 people. A large amount of cash was also seized. The gambling den at Saleli is just one kilometer away from the Honda den and also from the Honda police outpost.
Sources state the den is owned by BJP leader Vishwajeet Krishnarao Rane, who had contested the 2012 elections from Valpoi on a BJP ticket. His cell phone was unreachable when we tried to contact him.
