On August 20, 2015 at around 1.45 am this correspondent made calls to the Police Inspector, Deputy Superintendent of Police of Valpoi region and also PCR (100). To Herald’s surprise, within ten minutes all four huts closed operations but not a single policeman had reached the spot. This indicates the close link between the policemen and the gambling mafia. One of the gambling den operators said that Rs 10 lakh is paid as protection money to the police every month.
The owner of the land is paid around Rs 40,000-50,000 per month for the use of his plot for the gambling activity.
Police sources said that the officers are strategically posted to protect these activities, which is an open secret in the Police Headquarters. Former DySP Gajanan Prabhudesai was shunted to PTS Valpoi within a week after he raided a gambling den, which was operating from a prominent BJP member’s place, who contested the last election from Poriem constituency.
