Feature
Five armed men rob Jammu-Delhi Duronto train passengers
New Delhi: Brandishing knives at passengers, five armed men forced their entry into two Jammu-Delhi Duronto Express coaches early on Thursday and fled with their cash and gold within minutes in the absence of security, railway officials said.
The incident occurred near the Badli area of outer Delhi during an unscheduled stop made just after the train entered the national capital, a passenger said.
Northern Railway spokesperson Deepak Kumar said the signal system was tampered with as the train came to a sudden halt near Badli in outer Delhi, adding the armed men managed to enter the B3 coach and looted two passengers.
He said General Railway Police (GRP) was recording statements of the passenegers who were robbed, adding it would also take the statement of the TTE and other staff present in the train.
Those robbed in the train were identified as Ashok Kumar and Basant Bhandari, both residents of Jammu.
The NR spokesperson said the train was not escorted by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) staff. “The GRP is working with the passengers to get the sketch of suspects,” Deepak Kumar said. He said that the railways has lodged a case against unknown persons under several sections of Indian Penal Code.
Group of five armed men rob Jammu-Delhi Duronto Express coaches:
The robbery came to light after Ashwani Kumar, who was travelling from Jammu to Delhi, lodged a complaint through the railways’ complaints portal.
“Today at 3.30 a.m, the train stopped somewhere due to (a) signal problem. Some five unidentified culprits entered coaches B3 and B7. They put their knife on the neck of other passengers and asked them to provide whatever expensive items they were carrying.
“They took their purses, cash, carry bags, gold chain and other things. It was all over within 10-15 minutes,” said Ashwani Kumar in his complaint.
“The irony was that neither the staff nor security personnel were available at the time of the incident.”
“The RPF has some initial leads in the case… We will be able to catch the culprits soon,” Deepak Kumar said.
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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