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Bengaluru becomes a safe haven for AP gamblers
With City Task Force personnel breathing hot air on their nape, the city gamblers thought it wise to move to safer places away from the two Telugu-speaking states to play 13-card rummy game.
Visakhapatnam: With City Task Force personnel breathing hot air on their nape, the city gamblers thought it wise to move to safer places away from the two Telugu-speaking states to play 13-card rummy game.
Couple of organisers, who had tough time facing the law-enforcing agencies, had to shell out lakhs of rupees during the last one and half year to bail out the members and to reimburse the seized money.
Initially they tried to establish clubs in association with their friends in Rajahmundry, Eluru and Vijayawada but backed out after they were told that it was not safer in coastal Andhra Pradesh too.
Hyderabad is also almost closed for gambling after TRS came to power. Telangana police is said to have received specific orders from Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao to close down every club big or small in the twin cities.
Now as per the latest information, the city organisers moved to Bengaluru where they find safe and comfortable for gaming.
“They are offering one-way flight ticket to Bengaluru along with accommodation. I play there for a week and return home,’’ said a retired Revenue official who took to playing cards for money soon after retirement.
An organiser told this correspondent that he had hired a penthouse in the heart of the city and getting members from Visakhapatnam and surrounding areas. There are some more organisers who also pitched their tents in the city of gardens operating in similar fashion.
“Bengaluru is cheaper compared to the amount I spend on court cases and reimbursement,’’ said Rama Rao (name changed).
Assistant commissioner of police I Chittibabu, who is heading the City Task Force since last two and half years, told this correspondent on Tuesday that with limited resources, his handful of men were doing excellent job by tracking down gamblers in every corner of the city.
In 2015, 107 cases were booked and 722 persons were arrested. An amount of Rs 48.4 lakh, 32 motorcycles and one car was seized. The drive against gambling was stepped up this year with 106 cases booked in the first six months of the year.
Around 661 persons were taken into custody and an amount of Rs 28.4 lakh was seized from the arrested persons. In addition, 635 mobile phones, two cars, 26 motorcycles and one auto rickshaw were seized from them. Even 45 women were arrested for indulging in gambling, the ACP said.
All the cases were booked under section 3, 4 and 9 of the AP Gaming Act of 1974. The ACP said the professional gamblers were being tracked through GPS system to locate the prospective dens.
