Police Officers Suspended Over Betting Scandal

Story by George Oborne on 2011-10-21 15:39:36

Two Punjabi police officers have been suspended after a recent Diwali betting scandal was exposed. Police Commissioner Amritsav RP Mittal has confirmed that two of his senior officers have been suspended, pending enquiry. These officers are Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Bhadur Singh and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Jaswant Singh.

The two officers led a raid on a well known gambling den at Fatehgarh Churian Road on the 8th October. Inside there were over 200 couples playing games such as Teen Patti, Rummy and Bridge and police officers seized over 1.23 crore. A number of prominent figures were present in the gambling den to celebrate the festival of Diwali and the majority of players came from well off families.

To play in the games, punters had had to pay a 4,500 Rupee entry fee and for this they had been treated to a number of betting games as well as alcohol, dancing girls and music. In cases such as this it is custom for officers to record details of all persons who are present in the gambling den and return all seized goods to the police station.

It appears that ADCP Singh and ACP Singh both failed to do this and returned just 7 lakh of the 1.23 crore to the police station. On top of this they recorded the presence of just 44 males, when it was clear that over 400 people were present at the party. There have therefore been allegations made against the officers that they took bribes off people at the party.

This sheds a bad light on the police force, who are trying to prevent gambling during the Diwali festival. However, such is the popularity of the gambling during Diwali that many people have called for it to be legalised. Sager Patel said 'It would be of greater use to the public if the police just regulated gambling to stop the criminals and so law abiding people who just want a small bet can go unpunished.'