Feature
Hizb commander who blasted Kashmir telecom towers killed
Srinagar:In a major setback to the Hizbul Mujahideen terror outfit, security forces on Tuesday killed one of its top commanders who was wanted for last year’s attacks on communication towers in Jammu and Kashmir and many other terror-related cases, officials said. The killing triggered violent protests in Sopore, to which he belonged.
Police said Sameer Wani was shot dead after security forces surrounded a house in Nagri village in Kupwara district, some 100 km from here, after information that some militants were hiding there.
A police officer told IANS that security forces came under heavy fire from the hideout, leading to fighting that left Wani, the Hizb divisional commander for north Kashmir, dead.
Police alleged that Wani was wanted for his involvement in dozens of attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and had unleashed a reign of terror last year after masterminding strikes on communication towers and their owners to cripple cellphone services in the state.
The attacks on cell phone towers were claimed by a little-known militant outfit, Lashkar-e-Islam. Police said that Wani, who had earned a nickname “tower hunter”, had set up the group as an offshoot of Hizbul Mujahideen.
The Hizbul Mujahideen had then denied any involvement and blamed security agencies for the attacks that had caused severe disruption of cellphone services in parts of the Kashmir Valley.
Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, who also heads terror conglomerate United Jihad Council (UJC) based in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, paid tributes to the slain militant in a statement to a Srinagar-based news agency, CNS.
Wani’s death triggered angry protests in parts of north Kashmir. As soon as reports of his killing reached his Dooru village in Sopore sub-district, hundreds of residents came out to protest, shouting anti-government and pro-freedom slogans, witnesses and officials said.
The protesters set ablaze a police vehicle in Shiva area after his body reached the village but its occupants were not harmed.
Dozens of motorcycle-borne young men took out a rally as the militant commander’s body was taken in a procession for funeral prayers. Hundreds of people attended Wani’s burial in his village.
Markets were closed and public transport spontaneously went off the road following Wani’s death.
The protesters also clashed with police and threw stones at them. Police fired tear gas canisters to disperse them as tension ran high in and around the area.
On Tuesday also, suspected militants snatched an AK 47 rifle of a personal security guard of a Bharatiya Janata Party leader in central Kashmir Badgam district.
In Delhi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the security situation in the state that has seen a sudden surge in militancy-related violence. On Saturday, militants killed eight paramilitary troopers in one of the deadliest firing attacks on their bus in a south Kashmir town.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, chiefs of intelligence agencies and other senior home ministry officials attended the meeting that also discussed militant incursion from across the border with Pakistan.
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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