Gamblers reshuffle in Bengaluru despite police crackdown

Koramangala is once again becoming a hub for the activity
Gamblers reshuffle in Bengaluru despite police crackdown

BENGALURU: A few months after the police launched a major crackdown on illegal casinos and gambling, the activity has quietly started rearing its head again. As many as 41 cases involving house-gambling have been registered in the first three months of this year, as compared to 100 during all of last year, according to the police. The increase has prompted the Central Crime Branch to conduct frequent raids now.  

“We have shut down illegal clubs and raid areas where high-stake gambling occurs,” Alok Kumar, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime), said. “Earlier we used to arrest only those who were found gambling. Now, the owners who rent out their place to them are also punishable,” he added.

The authorities had launched a crackdown in September, when over 300 casinos and gambling centres were shut down. However, Koramangala is again becoming a hub for the activity. Sources say house gambling has become popular after Kings & Queens, a club that was shut down in Koramangala, reopened in Hoskote recently, encouraging others to follow suit. “Most gambling sessions have shifted to rural areas. But now, gamblers are starting to emerge in city limits as well,” a source said, adding, “They receive a message on WhatsApp informing them when there is a game. The time and location are sent once the receiver reverts.”  The location keeps changing but it regularly happens in villas and apartments of those in the player database.

However, Girish S, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), denied that gambling is on an increase. “We have conducted many raids and continue to do so whenever we receive information,” he said, adding that while rummy is legal, poker is considered gambling.

Is poker legal?

Poker is a game of skill and does not count as gambling, K N Suresh, secretary, Indian Poker Association (IPA), said, adding that letters from the Police Commissioner’s office in 2012 stated no-objection on poker games conducted. Also, the Karnataka High Court ruled in the Indian Poker Association versus State of Karnataka case in 2013 that playing skill games like poker in recreational clubs is permitted and no licence is required for it.

“There are three factors to prove a game as gambling - if it is a game of chance, if the game is conducted in a place where the public has access, and if the organisers make a profit of this activity,” Suresh said. “IPA will approach the court to question police interference in this regard. Cops should be restricted from entering such premises. Nobody has been convicted so that means police just want to register a case,” he added.

Club operators themselves say the activity needs to be regulated. “Where is the tax being paid in this? The clubs have no guidelines,” a former club operator said.

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