Representative image of a police officer.
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Bengaluru: A raid by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Bengaluru police on bookmakers at the Bangalore Turf Club (BTC) led to the arrest of 66 people and revealed irregularities in bookkeeping and the evasion of Goods and Services Tax (GST), senior police officers said.
The raid was held on Friday afternoon after CCB sleuths received credible information that some people were claiming to be legitimate bookmakers at the BTC.
CCB sources said that during the raid, they arrested 66 suspects and nine others were at large. The sleuths also seized Rs 3.45 crore in cash and 55 mobile devices.
A senior police officer, on the condition of anonymity, said: “The raids were held based on the credible information that illegal betting was taking place, irregular bookkeeping, and proper records were not maintained for money received from customers and the evasion of GST.”
Apart from the mobile devices, the CCB investigators also seized relevant documents.
Some of the suspects named in the FIR are Surya and Co, Tejashwini Enterprises, Srihari Enterprises, Banashankari Enterprises, Paras and Co, Aditya Enterprises, Maruti Enterprises, Sri Manju Associates and Meghana Enter Prises.
CCB sources said that during the raids, they found that the stalls mentioned in the FIR were engaging in illegal betting.
A case has been registered at the High Grounds police station under relevant sections of the Karnataka Police Act, the Karnataka Race Betting Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Meanwhile, well-placed sources in the BTC said that the club currently had 26 licensed bookmakers.
“The BTC grants licenses to bookmakers under the Karnataka Race Courses Licensing Act, 1952, to conduct their bookmaking operations through stalls installed within BTC premises by collecting a fixed fee. The conditions of the license stipulate that the bookmaker has to maintain all records and also pay the statutory dues. Any violations will be reviewed independently between the bookmaker and the statute authority,” sources said.