Crime Branch takes over 14 Matka gambling cases

The police said that so far this year, the social service unit of the Crime Branch has conducted 14 raids at Matka gambling dens across the city. Following the raids, cases were registered at police stations and customers and book-makers arrested.

“But soon after the arrests, these customers and book-makers were released on bail… Bailable sections are applicable in such cases and once book-makers come out, they start their gambling business again,” said an officer.

The police said that on several instances, as the officers from police stations are asked to conduct further probe, they do not proceed with the investigation as they do not know who the informers are and are often caught up with other responsibilities like setting up a police bandobast. “Thus, Crime Branch officers have been appointed as investigating authorities in such cases,” said an officer.

Sources in the Crime Branch said that several Matka groups operate in the city. The famous operators are Kalyan Matka and Main Bazaar.

An officer said that Matka gambling is a numbers’ game in which the player guesses the winning number and pens it down in a sheet of paper. “To avoid getting trapped, the customers do not mention their name, instead hand over the sheet to the book-maker with a signature. If the number that the customer has guessed is a lottery number, the respective customer is rewarded with cash,” said the officer. The winning amount depends on the category in which the person has placed his bet.

“Nobody knows who flashes those lottery numbers on the sattamatka website. For several years, we thought that Matka queen Jaya Chedda, the wife of Suresh Bhagat, was doing it but it appears she is not managing it,” said the officer. “Even if we detain these masterminds or operators for 24 hours, the numbers are regularly flashed on the website.”