Feature
Ram Rahim’s daughter Honeypreet claims her innocence before media
Sirsa: The adopted daughter of jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, after playing hide-and-seek for near about a month, Honeypreet finally appeared before media today and claimed that she is innocent.
Honeypreet said that her relationship with her adopted father is very much clear and there is not illicit relationship between her and her father, she also claims that she is completely innocent.
Honeypreet Insan, who has been on the run for over a month, says she is “devastated” by allegations that she incited the Panchkula violence.
She told a TV news channel that her “Papa” was innocent and that his conviction on August 25 in two rape cases has left her “depressed”.
Priyanka Taneja alias Honeypreet, who tops the list of 43 people ‘wanted’ by the Haryana Police in connection with the incidents of violence that left at least 41 people dead and several injured following Ram Rahim’s conviction, said she was seeking legal opinion on her next step and was likely to move the Punjab and Haryana High Court here.
Honeypreet, 36, against whom a lookout notice and later an arrest warrant was issued by the Haryana Police, told a TV channel that allegations leveled against her are not true.
Ram Rahim’s daughter Honeypreet appears before media says she is innocent:
“Was I present with the arsonists (during the mayhem in Panchkula on August 25), how are they leveling such allegations,” she said while sitting inside a car at an undisclosed location.
On being asked about her image being portrayed as a “villain”, a “conspirator”, Honeypreet replied, “How are they making me an accused. I was there with my Papa (Ram Rahim) and discharging my duty as a daughter (on August 25).”
“Every daughter remains with her father, I went with him. Have you heard me saying a word where I instigate people. I had gone there (to CBI court in Panchkula) with a hope that my father will return by evening, but when he was held guilty, I went into depression, how could I think about anything else, I was totally devastated,” she said.
Honeypreet had accompanied Ram Rahim from sect headquarters at Sirsa to a special CBI court in Panchkula on August 25.
After Dera chief’s conviction on that day, she also accompanied him in a chopper when he was flown to Rohtak to be lodged in a jail.
There has been no trace of Honeypreet after the evening of August 25. However, she said she was not running away from law and was still trying to come to terms that Ram Rahim had been sentenced. She also said she was “devastated” when she was made an accused in incidents of violence.
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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