Raid on gambling den: 109 arrested

The Pune police on Thursday night raided a gambling den in Budhwar Peth and arrested 109 persons at the spot . The gambling den had been operating for several days now at Prasad club,a building near Pasodya Vithoba temple in Budhware,which is located just about 50 metres from the Faraskhana police station.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (special branch) Makrand Ranade led the raid on the gambling den . Ranade called for additional staff at around 2.30 am and raided the gambling den. The Police team arrested 109 persons including Prakash Birajdar at the spot. However,Ramesh Hazare who is allegedly the main person behind the gambling dennmanaged to escape. Police have seized cash worth Rs 2.57 lakh from the spot. Later in the day,police released all the 109 persons on bail. A search has been launched for nabbing Hazare. Police said that those arrested mostly included labourers and auto rickshaw drivers.