Staff Reporter :
An illegal mini casino was busted and 21 people were arrested by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in Kaichabari area of Ashulia, outskirt of Dhaka, on Saturday night.
Acting on a tip-off, a RAB-4 team, accompanied by Executive Magistrate Md Anisur Rahman, conducted the raid there.
RAB said that illegal gambling was underway at the casino for one and half years. 21 people were detained while they were gambling.
The elite force also seized one electronic casino board imported from Malaysia, 100 pieces of Yaba tablets, 12 cans of beer, 22 cell phones and Tk38,000 from the detainees during the four-hour-long drive.
The detained people are Md Billal, 38, Jewel, 28, Moidul Islam, 32, Sobuj Miah, 28, Sharif, 28, Liton, 45, Rabiul Mollah, 24, Abu Taleb, 20, Diyajul Islam, 20, Shipon, 20, Abdul Alim, 35, Azadul Islam, 50, Sohel Mollah, 32, Asadul Islam, 30, Ekhlas, 35, Moin Miah, 28, Masud Rana, 20, Habibur Rahman, 47, Rubel Miah, 33, Fazle Rabbi, 22, and Roni Bhuiya, 25.
“More than 300 gamblers used to come to this casino every night and played for some Tk10-15 lakh,” Additional DIG Mozammel Haque disclosed the matter during a press conference at RAB-4 office at Paikpara in Mirpur on Sunday afternoon.
“Mostly low-income people used to take part in this mini casino. Many of them lost their daily income due to gambling addiction,” the DIG stated.
The arrested claimed, there are casinos in Mirpur area also, according to RAB sources.
The arrested men during the preliminary interrogation said that this mini casino had been operating for the last one and a half years.
However, the owners of the mini casino – Plabon Hossain and Omar Farooq could not be nabbed. The elite force sealed off the casino after the drive.
Illicit gambling operations came to light after the RAB on 18 September, last year uncovered illegal casino business in raids in some sporting clubs in Motijheel and other parts of capital.
Since then, RAB and police forces have raided different clubs across Bangladesh, busting illegal casinos. A number of people, including Jubo league leaders were detained and then arrested after the raids.
