Feature
Gujarat Police uncover major kidney racket
Ahmedabad:Police in Gujarat’s Anand stumbled upon a major inter-state racket in trafficking of human organs, bringing 13 people to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital on Tuesday for forensic examination on suspicion that they sold their kidneys, soon after five people complained they had become victims of a gang.
All of them hail from Pandoli village of the district where police have information of 80 such cases though it is yet to ascertain if they fell prey to the racker or were part of it.
Police believe this to be the handiwork of an organised gang awith its roots across Gujarat, Chennai and Sri Lanka.
Bharat Shah, dean, BJ Medical College, where the people are being examined, said it appeared the kidneys had been taken out by expert hands.
“We asked them detailed questions and a seven-member forensic team also carried out medical examination of the patients brought in by police,” he said.
Five other youths have alleged their kidneys were surgically removed at different times since 2001 without their knowledge after making them unconscious, police said.
The first police complaint was lodged by Samir Badruddin Malek of the same village stating that he was taken to Delhi and operated upon to remove a kidney. “He told our team that he was operated in a hospital in Delhi but he does not know its name,” said Anand’s Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar Yadav.
“We have taken statements of these five youths and sent them for medical check-up to ascertain their claims. We will lodge an FIR after the reports arrive.”
Yadav told reporters that he suspects a bigger racket in sale of human organs on learning of these cases and has constituted a special investigation team comprising local police and crime branch officials to look into it.
“Since the issue is serious, I have ordered formation of an SIT to go deeper into it,” he said. Yadav has also deputed a team from the health department to the village to ascertain if more people have fallen prey to this racket.
Deputy Superintendent of Police, Petlad, Mahesh Gupta, who will head the SIT, said: “These youths have cut marks on their stomach, which indicates their kidneys were surgically removed. They claimed a person named Rafiq and some others offered them huge amount of money if they agree to come with them.”
“In their statements, these locals claimed the accused made them unconscious and removed their kidneys without their knowledge after taking them to Delhi. All this happened over a span of 15 years but they remained silent to avoid landing in any trouble,” he said.
Yadav said that most people in the village are daily wage labourers, and one told police that that he decided to sell its kidney as he was in financially dire straits while another did so finance his daughter’s wedding.
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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