Feature
Indian grandfather assaulted by US police; FBI to investigate
Washington: The FBI is investigating an incident in which an Indian grandfather’s encounter with police in Alabama left the man partially paralysed, while one of the involved officers has been arrested.
Sureshbhai Patel, 57, had recently come from India to help care for his grandson, who was born prematurely and was suffering from health complications.
In the Feb 6 incident outside his son’s house Patel was tackled to the ground by the police. The police officer responsible for Patel’s injuries, field training officer Eric Parker, was served disciplinary action and was arrested for assault in the third degree, Madison Police Chief Larry Muncey told reporters Thursday.
After an investigation from the Office of Professional Standards Parker was “served with proposed disciplinary action according to the Madison City policy and procedures…I recommend termination,” he said. Parker turned himself into the authorities in Limestone County on Thursday, according to madison countyrecord.com.
The FBI is currently conducting a “parallel inquiry” to determine if any federal violations occurred, Muncey said. The Washington Post cited a spokesman for the FBI as saying that the agency became involved shortly after the Feb 6 incident and it is being treated as a civil rights investigation. The findings will be turned over to the Justice Department for review.
At a press conference Thursday, the Madison Police Department played the audio of the original 911 call to report the supposed suspicious activity and a dash-cam video of the incident, in which Patel was tackled to the ground with his hands held behind his back.
“For that, I sincerely apologise to Mr. Patel, his family and our community…our desire is to exceed everyone’s expectations,” Muncey said.
On Feb 6, a caller who lived in the Hardiman Place subdivision off of County Line Road placed a non-emergency 911 call to Madison Police, describing an individual walking around houses in the neighbourhood and peering in garages, madisoncountyrecord.com reported.
The caller said the person had been exhibiting the same behaviour on the previous day, Feb 5, and described Patel as a black guy, around 30-years-old, after being asked by the 911 operator.
It was then that Parker and his trainee, Andrew Slaughter, were dispatched to the scene. Officer Charles Spence arrived shortly thereafter in a separate car.
As Parker spoke to Patel, the dash-cam video showed, it became apparent that Patel spoke no English. Parker asked him for ID, where Patel lived and what his business was walking around the neighbourhood.
Eventually, Patel’s hands were behind his back due to Parker holding his hands. At the critical point of the video, Parker slammed Patel to the ground, hitting head and torso first, unable to brace his fall, madisoncountyrecord.com said.
“He don’t speak a lick of English,” Parker said at least twice during the encounter after he tackled Patel.
As of Thursday morning, the Patel family attorney, Hank Sherrod out of Florence, said Sureshbhai could not grip with his hands but was able to slowly walk to the door and back to his bed after previously not having feeling at all in one of his legs.
Meanwhile, at the State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said: “Our hearts go out to him (Patel) and to his family. Obviously, there’ll be an investigation into this case which will be handled by local authorities.”
“I don’t have anything more to lay out in terms of our diplomatic discussions,” she said when asked about reports of New Delhi expressing concern over the incident.
“I would say that the Secretary and the State Department certainly express our strong condolences to the family for everything that he has been through,” she said.
“This is being handled by local authorities, and certainly, we would address any concerns through private diplomatic channels,” Psaki added.
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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