Puri police arrest 14 in major gambling raid, seize Rs 7.71 lakh in cash

Puri: Cracking down on illegal gambling, Puri Sadar police arrested 14 people and seized Rs 7.71 lakh in cash during a raid at Khadipada village on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. The drive was conducted as part of the ongoing ‘Operation Chakra’ against organised gambling and money circulation rackets.The accused have been identified as Manas Pradhan, 41, Bijaya Kumar Swain, 42, Pramod Kumar Mohanty, 50, Madhusudan Pradhan, 44, Prasana Kumar Nahak, 48, Amit Kumar Sahoo, 38, Pramod Baral, 43, Pabitra Mallick, 32, Pintu Majhi, 22, Rajesh Behera, 23, Laxmidhar Barik, 48, Jagannath Sahoo, 31, Pradipta Kumar Dash, 62, and Dhruba Lochan Baliarsingh, 26. Police also seized 12 packets of playing cards, 60 plastic gambling tokens, two cars and six two-wheelers.Police said another accused, Somanath Rout of Khadipada, believed to be the main organiser of the gambling den, is on the run. “Efforts are on to trace and apprehend him. The raid was part of our sustained efforts to eliminate all forms of illegal gambling under Operation Chakra. Puri police is committed to maintaining peace and order in the district,” said SP Prateek Singh. The accused were produced in court.