Special squads formed to expose single digit lottery trade in Kozhikode

The police have come up with stringent enforcement actions against the illegal single digit lottery business by deploying dedicated squads for flash inspections in Kozhikode district of Kerala. This move follows confidential reports from the State Lottery Department and licensed lottery agents, who raised protests against the growing number of unregulated lottery activities in the region.

One such squad formed under the leadership of Thamarassery Deputy SP Chandramohan, has exposed two shops at Ambayathode. During the flash inspection, the squad managed to seize ₹23, 020 from two shops suspected of having involvement in the illegal business.

The special squad members also recovered a few mobile phones believed to have been used for coordinating transactions. These devices will be sent for forensic analysis soon to gather further evidence, they add.

According to police sources, the recent inspections were carried out simultaneously at four different shops. The action was initiated based on a secret petition received from the local authorities. The squads mostly targeted locations which were allegedly operating outside the framework of legal lottery sales.

Officials from the Lottery department had previously expressed concerns over the negative impact of such illegal operations on the revenue generated from legal lottery sales by complying with the stringent rules. They had also warned that unregulated lottery systems expose the public to fraud and lack any legal remedy in disputes.

“The single digit lottery trade is a gambling practice in which participants place bets on a single digit number, usually ranging from 0 to 9, with the hope of winning a large cash reward of their chosen number being drawn,” says a Lottery department official. He points out that all transactions evading taxes and legal scrutiny are carried out through informal networks, including local agents and digital platforms. 

A senior police officer from Thamarassery who was part of a recent raid makes it clear that the crackdown will continue in the weeks to come as more squads will be joining the field-level inspections in suspected locations to dismantle the discreet network and ensure that only government-authorised systems operate in the district. The lottery traders have been asked to report any suspicious lottery trade activities in their area as it is continuous to be a kind of financial extortion affecting the lower income group of families, he adds.