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BJP leader Juhi Choudhary arrested in child trafficking case
Kolkata: West Bengal Police today arrested Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) Mahila Morcha (women’s wing) leader Juhi Choudhury in as case related to child trafficking.
Earlier, Juhi has been named in the FIR by the CID, which has arrested two officials of the NGO Bimala Shishu Griha-its chairperson Chandana Chakraborty and chief adoption officer Sonali Mondol-from Jalpaiguri in north Bengal.
CID sources said the busted child trafficking ring allegedly sold two dozen children to different parts of India and countries like US and France.
When media persons sought reactions of the BJP leader, she said Chandana Chakraborty had come to her once with complaints against the state government and stated that she was mulling going to court. “I advised her to approach necessary forums. That was it.” But later she could not be contacted later for further queries.
A CID detective, however, said the BJP leader took Chakraborty to Delhi to meet central government officials. Both of them met a number of times and Choudhury helped run the NGO.
Choudhury is a resident of Maynaguri area where Chakraborty used to work as a school teacher.
A senior CID officer said, “We have arrested two officials of the NGO home and more people have been detained. Interrogation is on. We are also conducting raids at different places.”
Both the accused have been booked under different sections of IPC and Juvenile Justice Act relating to child trafficking, conspiracy and others.
According to police, the NGO sold babies and children at a price, disregarding adoption rules.
The CID busted an inter-state baby trafficking ring following raids in Kolkata and North 24 Parganas districts and rescued thirteen babies and arrested 20 persons, including doctors, quacks and nursing home staffs. The ring involved nursing homes, hospitals, NGO homes in at least four districts of Bengal and other parts of India where babies were sold in November last year.
Investigation officer said that some dark-complexioned girls were sold for Rs 80,000 and Rs 1 lakh and fair complexion ones got them as much as Rs 1.5 lakh. Male infants were sold for Rs 2 lakh or more.
The CID named two doctors including a local BJP leader along with 19 others in a charge sheet submitted to additional chief judicial magistrate’s court in Basirhat in North 24 Parganas district in February last year.
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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