Two arrested for running lottery illegally in Barpeta, Assam

The accused have been identified as Dhanjit Das and Brahmadip Sutradhara.

Acting on specific information, Tapan Medhi, in-charge of Barpeta Sadar Police Station with the second-in-charge of the police station, Muktajur Rahaman and constable Manindra Das, nabbed the two person on December 6 from the Panchali area of Barpeta town.

The operation resulted in the seizure of about Rs 20,000 in cash and a large number of illegal lottery slips.

"Our team had conducted an operation in the Panchali area at around 10 pm from where we seized Rs 20,000 in cash along with a large number of illegal lotteries. We have also arrested two persons from the spot," police said.

Gambling in India is a controversial topic and is not even agreed upon by many states.

Indian law classifies gambling into 2 broad categories - games of skill and games of chance with games of skill.

The lottery is classified as a game of chance despite some winners claiming that the number system can be used to predict the winning results.

The Lottery Act of 1998, section 2(b) defines a scheme in any form and by whatever name called for the distribution of prizes by lot or chances to those persons participating in the chances of a prize by purchasing tickets. According to a decision made by the Supreme Court of India in 2015, each Indian state is given jurisdiction over the decision of whether a lottery is legal or illegal.

There are 13 states out of the 29 states of India that have legalised the lottery including Assam, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim, Punjab, and West Bengal. In the other 16 states lottery is illegal.

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