Gujarat police’s crackdown against gamblers ahead of Janmashtami

Illegal gambling in Gujarat has turned rampant as the festival of Janmashtami closes in. To contain this gambling fever in the state, Kheda, Surat, and Vadodara police teams have intensified their crackdown on gambling activities, conducting multiple raids and making significant seizures.

Gamblers busted in Kheda

Kheda police have apprehended 15 gamblers across various locations including Maliyataj, Bhumel’s Ichhapura, and Pij in Nadiad West. The police seized a total of ₹41,890 in cash.

In Nadiad West, police apprehended Dilip alias Pappu Devipujak, Ramesh alias Bhayo Talpada, Jashvant Talpada, and Chetan alias Tiliyo Talpada, who were found playing cards. The police seized ₹1,730 in cash and gambling paraphernalia.

In another incident, police raided a farm in Vaso where Vikram Waghela and Arjun alias Bottle Chauhan were caught gambling and seized ₹16,600 in cash from them.

In Bhumel’s Ichhapura, Vadtal police arrested Arvind Parmar, Upendra Chauhan, Viroj Gohil, Nimesh Parmar, Ehsan Sabir Khan Pathan, and Tina Gohil for gambling and seized ₹21,700. Additionally, Vaso police raided and nabbed gamblers openly gambling. The arrested were Chirag Patel, Sunil Waghela, and Vishnu Gohil, and ₹1,860 in cash was seized.

Kheda district police have registered cases and initiated legal proceedings against all the accused.

Surat police contain gambling dens

In Surat, Katargam police have arrested 16 gamblers and recovered ₹40,330 in cash from them.

Chowk Bazaar police raided a parking lot in Katargam on Aug 11 and arrested eight people, including Raju Vasani, Vijay Makwana, Mahesh Metal, Gopal Vasani, Bharat Sheikh, Vijay Derwadiya, Dinesh Solanki, and Jaypal Khat, along with seizing ₹12,700.

Katargam police also conducted raids in a parking lot near a flat in Fulpada and arrested retired individuals Rajesh Patel, Ramesh Patel, Manharlal Patel, and Ramesh Sihora, seizing ₹13,130.

Additionally, Shramjivi Suresh Sosa, Naresh Parmar, rickshaw driver Vinod Gohil, and photographer Nikunj Prajapati were nabbed for gambling publicly in the Rail Rahat Colony. ₹14,500 were seized from them.

Vadodara steps up to pull strings against gambling

Vadodara city police also intensified their crackdown on gambling, with Atladra and Chhani police conducting raids at three locations and arresting 13 gamblers, seizing ₹52,000.

On Aug 11, an Atladra police team, acting on a tip-off, arrested Sanjay Vasava, Babu Dabhi, Laxman Parmar, and Kiritsinh Solanki. The police seized ₹21,000, including cash and mobile phones from them.

Similarly, Chhani police conducted raids in Dashrath and Padmala villages and arrested Akhilesh Yadav, Mahesh Solanki, Vivek Solanki, Girish Kanthi, Sunilkumar Agrawal, Bharat Jadhav, Vikram alias Vikki Sharma, Vishnu Jadhav, and Sudhir Rathod. The police seized ₹34,000 in cash and mobile phones.