Feature
NIA conducts raids in Kashmir, Delhi over terror funding
New Delhi: National Investigation Agency (NIA) teams on Saturday carried out raids at over 14 places in Srinagar and at eight places in the national capital in connection with alleged terror funding in the valley by Pakistan-based terrorist groups.
In the ongoing raids, houses of three separatist leaders — Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader Ghazi Javed Baba, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Farooq Ahmed Dar also known as Bitta Karate and suspended Hurriyat leader Nayeem Khan, who confessed to receiving funds from Pakistan to incite trouble in Kashmir in videos released by the media were searched.
Official said simultaneous raids were also being carried out in Delhi which includes areas in Ballimaran and Chandni Chowk.
The raids came in the wake of a preliminary enquiry (PE) against Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and his close aide and Hurriyat provincial President Nayeem Khan, Dar and Baba on 19 May.
The raids in the national capital were carried out as the separatist leaders confessed in the sting operation video that they received funds from Pakistan via middlemen based in Ballimaran and Chandni Chowk.
A senior NIA official told media “The PE has been converted into an FIR against LeT chief Hafiz Saeed and other Pakistan based terror agencies.”
The FIR, however, does not name any of the separatist leaders.
After a news channel aired a sting on May 16, in which the separatist leaders were allegedly seen in conversation with the reporter confessing that they received money from Pakistan through hawala channels.
The three separatist leaders were earlier questioned by the agency in Delhi on Monday and Tuesday.
Between May 19 to May 22, the counter-terror agency also questioned Baba and Dar for four consecutive days in Srinagar, regarding their alleged involvement in raising and receiving funds through hawala. Khan was also grilled on 19 May .
On May 20, the NIA had collected details of 13 accused and chargesheeted those involved in cases of arson attacks on schools and public property in Kashmir.
The NIA officials had said that the agency was probing all aspects of funding of separatist leaders and use of these funds in fuelling the unrest in the Valley after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on 8th July, 2016.
The separatist leaders were alleged to have received money from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and other sources in Pakistan to fund stone-pelting and violent protests in Jammu and Kashmir.
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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