BARGARH: Police busted a gang that was organising gambling under the guise of a birthday party at a hotel in Bhatli here on Thursday night.
At least 26 people were arrested from the hotel. While one accused is a native of Bargarh, the rest 25 are from neighbouring Chhattisgarh. All of them were produced in court on Friday.
Police said acting on information from reliable sources, two teams raided the hotel and caught 26 people engaged in gambling in a room. Police also seized Rs 6,40,605 cash, five cars and mobile phones from the accused.
Bargarh SDPO Padarabinda Tripathy said the accused had booked two rooms in the hotel on the pretext of celebrating birthday party but were found gambling there. “We are verifying if the hotel owner and staff were aware of the illegal activity. Appropriate action will be taken if their involvement is ascertained. Further investigation is underway,” he added.