A day after the Delhi Police busted an illegal casino in South Delhi's posh Sainik farms in Neb Sarai, police sources said the owner of the farmhouse and his casino partners Harinder Kaushik and Kunal had in the past six months travelled to las Vegas, Goa and Bombay. They travelled to these gambling havens to learn more about managing his casino business and also to increase the quality and number of his clients.
"Both the accused went separately to Goa, Bombay as well as las Vegas to get more insights on the gambling business. This is opening up a bigger nexus for us as we are getting links to the casino houses in Goa and Bombay," said the source.
The police official, privy to the investigation, said a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) is also involved in the crime. "Not only him, other senior police officials who have now been transferred or have retired are also involved," he said.
Meanwhile, a city court on Monday granted bail to seven people, arrested in connection with the gambling case.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sonu Agnihotri set free on bail seven men, who were arrested on Sunday for alleged offences under the Delhi Excise Act and Delhi Gambling Act. The accused were produced before the court by police, which had sought judicial custody for them.
Police had on Sunday arrested 36 people, including businessmen and four women, out of whom, 29 had secured bail on Sunday itself from the police station as their offence was bailable. A joint police team of Neb Sarai and Malviya Nagar had conducted a raid at J-255, Sainik Farms in the wee hours on Sunday after they got a specific tip-off.
Police said almost two dozen people were found playing casino on the premises and "eleven luxury vehicles, 23 bottles of foreign made liquor and gambling chips worth `1,36,45,000 have been seized".
"We have also seized 250 packets of playing cards, wheel, spinning ball and other tools used in casino," said officials, adding that crores of rupees were wagered each day and a player had to spend a minimum of ` five lakh for entry and each chip was worth `1 lakh.
According to police, many of the arrested persons belong to reputed business families of Gurgaon, Faridabad and Delhi and among those held included players, table attendants and proprietors. Two separate cases under the Delhi Gambling Act and Delhi Excise Act have been registered at Neb Sarai Police Station in South Delhi.
A senior police official said more people, including owner of the premises, are likely to be arrested in the case and they will take steps to seal the property under the provisions of Delhi Gambling Act.