4 held for selling illegal lotteries

Trichy: In the latest series of raids against illegal sale of lotteries, police arrested four people in Trichy on two consecutive days.
On Wednesday, the Ariyamangalam police arrested a father and son for allegedly indulging in illegal sale of lottery tickets. M Peer Mohammed (37) and his father P Mohammed Ismail (54) from Nehruji Nagar in Ariyamangalam were arrested for possessing lottery tickets.Around 20 lottery tickets were seized from the duo. A Ramakrishnan, inspector of police, Ariyamangalam police station, said they used to conduct such raids at regular intervals. However, he was evasive to answer about the origin of the trade.
Similarly, on Tuesday, the Cantonment police registered two cases in connection with the illegal sale of lottery tickets. S Karuppaiah (45) from Periya Milaguparai and G Marimuthu (51) from Thiruvanaikovil in Trichy were arrested for possessing illegal tickets. They were all booked under Section 5 r/w 7 (3) of Lottery Regulation Act.
It is said that the illegal lottery business involves circulation of a few crores of rupees every day. According to sources, customers are asked to provide a three digit number of their choice to the agent, after which they will be given a chit with the number. If the number matches with the results obtained from the website, the customer will be given the prize amount.
But it is heart-breaking to know that many poor people return empty handed after investing their hard-earned money in this business.
It is said that the illegal lottery business involves circulation of few crores of rupees every day.