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NIA detains 9 more ISIS suspects across country
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) today detained nine more suspected members of the Islamic State (IS) terror organization in a joint operation with Delhi Police forces across India.
The raids, which have continued since Thursday evening, were conducted at 12 locations in six cities and in the latest development, the agency arrested nine more suspected IS members, taking the total number of those arrested to 14.
“On the basis of information revealed in the interrogation of five accused people, another nine accused people have been arrested from various locations in different cities,” said an NIA official.
The arrested men are Sayed Mujahid, 33, resident of Karnataka, Mohammad Aleem, 20, Lucknow, Mohammed Obedullah Khan, 33, and Abu Anas, 24, Hyderabad, Asif Ali alias Arman Saani, 21, Suhail Ahmed, 23, Muhammed Abdul Ahad, 46, Bengaluru, Mohammad Hussain Khan, 36, Mumbai, and Imran Khan Pathan from Aurangabad in Maharashtra.
The NIA said the arrested people will be produced before the concerned courts for obtaining transit remand and further interrogation and investigation will continue, said the official.
Informed sources said all the raids at 12 locations in six cities were conducted on tip-offs that the IS sympathisers were planning bomb attacks in several cities on Republic Day (January 26).
The raids were conducted in Bengaluru, Tumkur in Karnataka and Mangalore in Karnataka, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh.
Incriminating documents, mobiles, laotops and unaccounted cash and material used in making bombs were seized during the raids. Huge quantities of arms and ammunition were seized from the rented house of two of the suspects in Bengaluru, an official told IANS on Friday.
On Friday, NIA arrested five suspected IS members and nine others were detained. Mudabbir Mushtaq Shaikh, Mohammad Nafees Khan, Mohammad Shareef Mounuddin Khan, Najmul Huda and Mohammad Afzal, arrested on Friday are accused of encouraging the youth to join the IS.
Home Ministry Joint Secretary (Internal Security) had said all suspects are “radicalised youths” and more information would come out once ongoing investigations are over.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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