KOZHIKODE: Though the booming illegal Ezhuthu lottery is eating fast into the revenue of the state lottery, the police is not taking strict action against them. So far the investigation team headed by Crime branch IG S. Sreejith has arrested 56 in raids in January, registered 50 cases and confiscated Rs 70 lakh. But there were no follow up since to rein in the three digit lottery mafia though finance minister Thomas Isaac was lamenting about the loss of revenue to the three digit lottery controlled through multiple digital platforms operated from overseas servers.
INTUC state vice-president P.K. Abdullah Masood, a lottery seller at Malappuram, said if the police were active, such it could have ended in a month. “But it is not happening," he said. "Apart from the initial surge, there was no action.” On the investigation team, he said an official with multiple charges of investigations would not be able to deal with them. “I feel considering the importance of the case which is a threat to our economy, an earnest official with an exclusive charge of the case should be appointed,” he said.
Though the hi-tech cell of the state police is trying to locate the country of their servers, even after three months it reached nowhere. Mr Sreejith said the police backed out as the operators turned very much alert after serial raids. “We will resume action in right time,” he told DC. However, an official at the lottery department and leaders of lottery agents suspect that the police officials at lower rung are colluding with the culprits. Sources said each district has 50 to 100 agents and each agent has the same number of sub-agents, and their daily turnover is estimated to be around '60 crore.
