Feature
Sheena murder: Accused trio to be produced in court
Mumbai: The three prime accused in the Sheena Bora murder case will be produced before the Bandra magistrate court here on Monday when Mumbai police will seek extension of their custody, officials said here.
Indrani Mukherjea, the victim’s mother, Indrani’s former driver Shyam Rai and her ex-husband, Kolkata-based Sanjeev Khanna, are presently in the custody of the Khar police.
While Rai was the first to be arrested on August 21, Indrani was arrested on August 25 – both in Mumbai – and Khanna was nabbed from Kolkata on August 26 and all were sent to police custody till August 31.
Monday’s hearing would be crucial as the Khar police would provide an update to the magistrate on the progress in the investigations so far and seek further remand.
Rai was nabbed in connection with an illegal firearms possession case and during interrogations, he spilled the beans on the Sheena murder case.
Subsequently, Indrani and Khanna were also arrested, and during the investigations, the trio has been interrogated jointly and individually, personally by Mumbai Police Commissoner Rakesh Maria and other senior officials.
Mumbai police has expressed frustration at the alleged lack of cooperation by Indrani, and the reported claims and counter-claims by Khanna, and both giving evasive replies during questioning.
While Indrani has stood firm and not yet admitted to her role in the crime, Khanna admitted to his complicity within hours of the police being granted his custody last week.
On Sunday, the Mumbai Police took Khanna and Rai to the crime spot at Dagode, in the forests near Pen in adjoining Raigad district in an attempt to recreate the entire crime scene.
In a cold-blooded crime, on the evening of April 24, 2012, Sheena was killed en route in a car, her body doused with petrol and then dumped in the desolate jungle area here.
According to the investigation so far, Sheena was allegedly lured by Indrani to meet her at a spot near National College in Bandra that evening. Later, Sheena was strangulated in the vehicle and her body taken to the isolated spot near Pen.
There the accused allegedly poured petrol on Sheena’s body, set it afire and decamped from the spot.
After a month, on May 23, 2012, a local mango-seller found the half-burnt carcass and alerted the local police outpost.
It has now transpired that the then police brass of Raigad failed to register any crime or accident case in the matter.
The current Raigad Superintendent of Police Mohammed Suvez Haque has been ordered to probe into the lapses of his predecessors and file a report soon.
Police are also keeping their fingers crossed for the crucial DNA and forensic analysis reports of the remains of the body believed to be of Sheena recovered on Friday.
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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