According to the news published by TNN Goa Police Crime Branch raided the illegal gambling den at Siolim and arrested 9 people, the raid was conducted on the night of Friday, apparently the illegal den was run by the local Politician. The crime branch Superintendent of Police Karthik Kashyap revealed that the card gambling was run in an open space near Siolim Bridge.
The crime branch had received the tip from the reliable sources that the local politician is running card gambling den at Siolim, subsequent to the verification of the information the police team had conducted the raid on the den and arrested 9 accused which subsequently released on the bail by the court. “We have seized Rs 41,300 during the raid,” he added. Crime Branch is regularly conducting the raid on card, machine slot and matka gambling dens to curb illegal gambling dens running in the state. (source TNN)
The legal gambling can be termed as the gambling activities which generated the revenue for the government coffers which in turn used for the development of the country or state are to be considered as the legal gambling. To set up the legal gambling in the ambit of the legal frame set by the government one has to share the revenue with the government. Illegal gambling can be the cause of access revenue generation which can be used for the illegal activities such as drug peddling and terrorism.
Gambling in India is heavily restricted except for selective categories like lotteries and horse racing. Approximately 40% of internet users in India have admitted in the past to visiting a gambling site – but not placing a bet. However, this position has changed significantly in the year 2014 as more and more people have started making cash bets upon prohibited betting and gambling activities in India. The critics of gambling claim that it leads to crime, corruption and money laundering while those in favour of a regulated gambling system in India argue that it can be a huge source of revenue for the state. It is noteworthy that casinos in Goa contributed Rs. 135 crores to the state revenue in 2013. (Source Wikipedia)
Despite the existing prohibitive legislations, there is extensive illegal gambling throughout the country. The Indian gambling market is estimated to be worth US$60 billion per year, of which about half is illegally bet. According to the Indian National Newspaper, the Chief Executive officer for the International Cricket Council (ICC) said he was in favour of legalizing sports betting. He believes the illegal funds profited are through underground bookies that used the money to fund terrorism and drugs. Many Indian professionals as well as online forums have urged the government to introduce legal but regulated gambling in India to bring the gambling economy out of the grip of mafia and underground dons.
These perhaps explain the lot about the illegal and legal gambling and why the police raid the illegal gambling. We sometimes blame the police system for all these activities but the truth is that everything is a part of system and whatever done legally safeguards the interest of our government (in turns our own) and illegal activities can only benefit few selected people of the society which leads to hazardous results. According to you what is your opinion of legal and illegal gambling? Please do not forget to leave your honest comments on this article.
