Politicians, police booked in 'matka' gambling case in Goa

Goa Police has registered a case against politicians, police personnel and others for violating the Goa Gambling Act for allegedly indulging in and protecting the 'illegal' Matka gambling business in the state.
Police has lodged an FIR on the basis of directions received from the Goa bench of Bombay High Court recently to treat a petition lying before it as an FIR and investigate the matter.
Unnamed politicians, police officials, over 1,100 agents (operators) and two local vernacular newspapers were booked by Goa Police Crime Branch, investigating the matter, last night.
Kartik Kashyap, Superintendent of Police, Goa Crime Branch, said, "We have registered this case based on the content of the petition. It has been done as per directions of the High Court."

Activist Kashinath Shetye and four other petitioners had approached the Goa bench of Bombay High Court, alleging that youngsters and others are involved in 'Matka' gambling but no action was taken against such illegal activities.
Matka is a popular, banned form of gambling in Goa as well as other parts of the country.

Believed to be controlled from Gujarat, the gambling functions six days a week, virtually like a lottery where lucky numbers are generated twice every day.
Among matka operators those who were booked include -- Milan, Kalyan, Main Star and Super (gambling) -- all residents of Gujarat.
The FIR has been lodged under relevant sections of Goa Gambling Act and Prevention of Corruption Act.

They also alleged that complaints have been lodged with the Crime Branch who have earlier arrested 20 persons, though as there were illegal gratifications to the police officers, no raid was conducted and that four Superintendents were issued suspension letters.
The suspension orders were kept in abeyance as no action was taken despite the complaints lodged with the police against such activities, they alleged.
The matka industry in Goa alone could go up to several thousand crores of rupees.
The court has also directed the crime branch to file a status report on the issue every six months.