By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, July 9: In an incident that speaks a lot about the decaying social values in the society, 38 persons were arrested from a hotel in Guwahati last night on charges of gambling. Out of these, 17 were below 18 years of age! They were let off for being minors while the remaining 21 persons were taken into custody.

According to police sources, Tushar Choudhury, Rakesh Toshniwal, Bharat Misra and Rahul Shroff, all college students, invited their friends over for a party through SMS. The venue of the party was a prominent hotel in the city. Gambling was going on in the party when Paltan Bazar police barged into the hotel at around 8.30 pm on Sunday night and spoilt the party.

A total of 17 persons in the party were below 18 years of age. They are students of some of the most acclaimed colleges in the city. They were let off for being minors while 21 persons were arrested. The arrested youths were today produced in the court. The manager of the hotel has also been arrested.

A case (682/12) has been registered in Paltan Bazar police station under section 13/14 of the IPC.