Betting Hits India

Sub-head: Authorities helplessly watch bookies having a field day

Bookies in the country never had it so good. To add to their glee, their international counterparts have joined them, taking up positions in the country’s top hotels. ICC Champions Trophy is what has brought them here. And Diwali is the season when even those uninvolved would like to bet. Rumour mongers have a field-day with stories of involvement of few prominent business persons, politicians and bureaucrats circulating. Betting, though illegal in India, is prospering as the authorities watch helplessly considering the influence and position of people involved.
Crores and crores of rupees are up on stake. Prominent restaurants and social clubs transform into meeting points where people from all walks of life come to bet. For them betting is fun, to some passion, unmindful whether they would win or lose, while the bookies just have to perform one work after it is all over – walk their way to the bank.
Be it Lucknow or Kanpur or the bigger metros like Bangalore and Mumbai, it is happening everywhere. Even smaller cities are not left out. Punjab and cities like Jaipur are lucrative places for ‘business’. And Delhi is the hub. The only blessing-in-disguise being that other crimes have come to a standstill, as betting promises far more money than ransom, supari killing or trafficking.
Moreover, money is safe due to the long reach of the mafia involved and due to fact that the white-collared businessmen and others involved wont like to involve themselves in the mess. Therefore, they prefer to pay silently!
All leading gangs, their top bosses, and mafia is involved. It is perhaps the best organized crime in India involving the high society, businessmen and other prominent persons. The entire network runs on the phone or the internet. And if you wish to bet, you cannot enter the game unless you know an introducer, already involved in the business.
Authorities are well aware! They are ‘keeping a vigil’ but can do nothing. No big fish will be caught. No network exposed. Such is the scare of the bigwigs involved in the business of betting.