Feature
Model Shikha case: Kin fear unfair probe, want case in Delhi
New Delhi: The family of model-turned-actress Shikha Joshi, who was found dead at her friend’s Mumbai apartment, wants the case to be transferred to Delhi as they fear Mumbai police will not conduct a fair probe.
They also shared with media a series of SMSes sent by the 40-year-old Shikha on her father’s cell phone two days before her death on Saturday.
Shikha’s father K.N. Joshi told IANS: “On May 14, I got three messages (SMS) from Shikha in three minutes, between 9.15 p.m to 9.17 p.m. The messages clearly show there was something wrong.”
In the first message, Shikha apparently informed her father of her location: “Mai Nai Gao me hu (I am in Nai Gao)”. Nai Gao is a developing suburb north of Mumbai, nine km from Greater Mumbai.
The second message read: “Code Red ke shooting pe… yaha sab gadbad hai… sajish hai” (At Code Red’s shooting. Everything is wrong here. It is a conspiracy). “Code Red” is a popular crime-based television show.
The last message from Shikha to her father had an ominous ring and read: “Humko shayad shooting ka naam bol kar fansa diya. (I think I have been trapped in the guise of shooting).”
“She was trapped. I talked to her immediately. Her reply satisfied me as she told me that after shooting, she had left for her friend’s flat with 3-4 female colleagues,” Joshi said.
When media visited the Joshis’ Shakarpur residence in east Delhi on Wednesday, the family alleged that Mumbai police were under “some pressure”.
Her brother Vishesh Joshi said the whole family felt threatened after the incident.
The family refuses to accept that Shikha committed suicide and suspects foul play.
“We doubt Shikha will get justice unless the case is transferred to Delhi as the accused is very powerful,” Vishesh Joshi told IANS. “We too will be murdered like Shikha if we go to Mumbai for the case.”
He alleged a conspiracy and said there was constant pressure from plastic surgeon Vijay Sharma to drop the molestation case filed by Shikha against him, but she refused to give in under pressure.
Vishesh Joshi claimed Shikha had written to the National Commission for Women (NCW) for providing her security cover, as she was getting regular threats from plastic surgeon Sharma.
Shikha had accused the doctor of molestation and was pursuing a court case against him in the matter.
The NCW had written to Mumbai police to provide her security whenever she was in the city for attending court proceedings in connection with the molestation case, Vishesh told IANS.
The doctor had performed a breast implant surgery on Shikha in 2006. The procedure, according to the family, had reportedly gone awry and the actress developed some complications.
Shikha was allegedly molested by the doctor when she went back to meet him in this connection in 2011.
Shikha was found with her throat slit at Andheri’s Lokhandwala complex on Saturday evening where she was staying with a woman friend, Madhu Bharti, and her husband.
She had locked herself in the bathroom where she was found in a pool of blood, Bharti told police. She was rushed to a hospital in an unconscious state, but was declared dead on arrival.
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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