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GAMING DISASTER
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Crime Branch of Goa Police on Thursday registered an FIR against Herald Publications Pvt Ltd group editor in Chief Raul Fernandes, Herald group editor Sujay Gupta and other marketing and editorial staff under Section 3 (keeping common gaming-house) and 4 (gaming in common gaming-house) of Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act, 1976 and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC for allegedly running a common gaming house under the publication's banner.
Superintendent of Police (crime) Karthik Kashyap informed that the crime branch officials and personnel conducted a raid at six main spots located at Margao, Verna, Panaji and Porvorim allegedly involved in operating the German Housie and Mexican Housie.
Police team has seized housie tickets, account books and case in these raids.
Other items seized in the raid include computers, gaming servers, account books and ticket from Herald's central offices located at St Inez," SP Kashyap stated.
The FIR was registered after Adv Rajeev Gomes filed a complaint on Wednesday at the Crime Branch police station at Ribandar against the alleged housie games being aired on the news channel.
Adv Gomes, in his complaint, stated that the public is solicited to buy a product for Rs 50 and take part in the Mexican Housie in order to win prizes worth Rs 75,000.
Gomes informed that the same is also being published in the newspaper of the publication group.
Gomes further said that it was after reading the advertisements in the newspaper that he decided to verify the legality of the said Mexican Housie and German Housie.
Along with his complaint, Gomes also furnished copies of the lottery tickets that he himself bought from a local agent in Panaji in order to participate in the said games.
“After playing the game, it was learnt that arriving at the winning numbers of the said housies involved absolutely no skill, intelligence, knowledge or experience of whatsoever nature. In fact, arriving at the winning numbers and winning both the housies is a matter of pure chance and luck. Operation of the said housies therefore directly comes within the ambit of gaming/gambling i.e. wagering or betting on the digits of a numerical figure arrived at by manipulation, or on the order of the digits, or on the digits themselves, in complete violation of the Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act, 1976,” reads the complaint.
Addressing the media at Ribandar after submitting his complaint, Gomes had demanded that police consider attaching the apparatus used for these two games while also probing the angle of tax evasion and money laundering.
