Hyderabad: People Opt for Online Casinos on Diwali

 Hyderabad: While people in general prayed for good health and prosperity during Diwali, many made real time money by utilising casino offers by various websites on the internet. While the so-called tradition of playing a casino was initially restricted to private settings, more and more individuals have been found playing casinos individually on the Internet.

A website offered Diwali bonuses to users. Its traffic showed a rise in the past month, with 91 per cent of the visitors of the website being Indians.

Apart from that, Google Trends has shown a breakout in the search term ‘casino’ among Telanganites. According to Google Trends, the number of people from Telangana looking for the term casino rose 50 times in the past two weeks. Many people looked for betting options to bet about the US Presidential elections.

According to the Telangana police, while no particular cases were reported in the state in the past two to three days, a rise in online gambling cases has been observed.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, DGP Dr Jitendra said, “Cases of online gambling have in general been rising. While physical gambling or casinos are strictly prohibited and we work on busting such gangs tirelessly, people are now relying on online methods. The Internet is a huge place and determining if something like this is being done in the state can be difficult, but the law and order police are specifically coordinating with the Cybersecurity Bureau to develop a portal to check such movements.”

“Nowadays, people are using fake Aadhaar card numbers to register on such websites. To make sure their movement is tracked, we are working on developing a portal, which will be meant for virtual patrolling.”

With respect to the nature of the games, the DGP said, “We have made a clear distinction between the games of skills and the games of chances. However, any game of skill that requires monetary transactions is strictly banned, unless the party offering the game has obtained a licence. As far as the punishment is concerned, one to 10 years of imprisonment is the initial punishment. However, when the same offender repeats it, their punishment increases by two years.”