Farmhouse raid in Chandrapur nets 40 gamblers, all from Telangana

Police have busted a large interstate gambling den in the Virur police station area of Chandrapur district. The den, run under the name "Winners Social Club" inside a farmhouse in Sonurli village, was raided by police on Sunday night. Forty people, including the manager of the den, were taken into custody. Notably, all the accused are residents of different districts of the neighbouring state of Telangana.

Police had received reliable information that a card game called teen patti, involving large sums of money staked on 52-card hands, was being played illegally at a farmhouse in the Sonurli area. Acting on this tip, under the guidance of Rajura sub-divisional police officer Kumar Sushant, a team comprising Virur assistant police inspector Rajendra Gaikwad, sub-inspector Umesh Jogdand, sub-inspector Suryavanshi, the DB squad and Virur police staff, along with two witnesses, raided the closed hall of the club at around 7:45 pm on the night of September 20.

When the police team reached the hall, gambling was under way on a large scale at 15 tables as well as on the floor. On seeing the police, some gamblers tried to flee taking advantage of the darkness, but police acted swiftly and cordoned off the spot, apprehending all 40 people. Among those held, the manager of the den, Anjanellu Malayya Palle, a resident of Ramagundam in Adilabad district, is the key accused. The other accused are residents of areas including Gullety, Julapalli, Tekmatla, Ramnagar, Narsampet, Samagudam, Bejjala, Bajarpalli, Nustulapur, Malkapur, Bella, Indaram, Yellagatti, Sultanabad, Harmagudda, Pechakpeth, Hasanparthi, Vemulapalle, Deshapeth, Mancherial, Warangal, Kotapalli, Uplapad mandal in Bayyaram, Mahabubabad mandal, Karimabad, Peerzadiguda mandal in Uppal, Desaipeth, Gundel, Pupathagudda, Kondamotu mandal in Kodapalli, Gautamnagar, Shirpur and Ratnapur.

During the raid, police thoroughly searched the gambling den and all the suspects present. A search of the accused turned up 56,710 rupees in cash, 84,400 rupees was recovered from the drawer of a table, and 5,08,000 rupees was found in an iron cupboard kept in the manager's cabin. Besides this, police seized hundreds of plastic coins of various denominations used in the gambling, a "Drop 2 Cart" currency-counting machine, three calculators, more than 540 playing cards, papers recording the accounts of the gambling and the manager's Android mobile phone. In all, police seized property worth 6,76,470 rupees in this operation.

Based on a complaint filed by assistant police inspector Rajendra Gaikwad at Virur police station, a case has been registered against all 40 accused, including gambling den manager Anjanellu Malayya Palle, under Sections 4 and 5 of the Maharashtra Prevention of Gambling Act and Sections 33(x) and 131 of the Maharashtra Police Act. Virur police are further investigating the matter.