Cops bust gambling den being run as snooker parlour; 9 held

With the arrest of nine persons, a gambling den which was being run in the garb of a snooker parlour has been busted in the Krishna Nagar area of Shahdara, police said today.
Acting on a tip-off that gambling was being illegally conducted at a snooker parlour, a team was constituted under the supervision of ACP (Gandhi Nagar) Khushal Pal and a constable was sent as a decoy customer to the parlour, said DCP (Shahdara) Nupur Prasad.
"The constable was asked to pay a minimum amount of Rs 120 for playing snooker and place a bet of Rs 500. Acting on his inputs, the parlour was raided on the intervening night of January 28 and 29," she added.

The parlour was being run by Nitin Manocha (40) who was arrested, along with eight gamblers. Manocha told the police that he was the caretaker of the parlour, while the owner was one Manish Chhabra who is absconding, the DCP said.
"During interrogation, Manocha said they used to charge Rs 500 for gambling and a 10-per cent commission from the person who won the bet," she said, adding that Rs 25,800 was recovered from the parlour.
The snooker parlour was opened in the area around four-five months back and everyday after 7 pm, the shutters of the shop were downed and only select customers were allowed in, police said.

Bets were placed following a colour code of the snooker balls as also on the number of shots a player would require to win a game, they added.
The landlord denied knowledge that gambling was being conducted in the garb of a snooker parlour, police said.