Sleuths of the Thane (rural) police led by Deputy SP Shashikant Bhosale, raided a matka (gambling) den running from an eatery in the Bunderwadi area of Bhayandar (east) on Tuesday.
While four people including two matka operators were apprehended, gambling material and cash was seized from the spot. The illegal activities were going on under the jurisdiction of the Navghar police station, officials of which had failed to take action, prompting the Deputy SP to form a special team to bust the gambling den.
The accused quartet identified as Chandrakant Ratanlal Panchal (56), Sudip Nikhil Dutta (47), Manmohan Rajendra Tiwari (30) and Pappu Bakelal Sondkar (40) were caught red handed while accepting and placing bets on numbers similar to the Mumbai-Kalyan matka racket, police said.
A case under the relevant sections of the IPC, Disaster Management Act, Bombay Prevention of Gambling Act and Epidemic Act has been registered against the accused at the Navghar police station. The raiding team comprised Police Sub Inspector Suraj Shinde, personnel Machindra Pandit and Kuyeskar. Further investigations were underway.
