5 held in Crime Branch raid on betting den in Ujjain, 4 kg gold; 18 lakh cash seized

The arrested are 40-year-old Prakash Srivastava, 23-year-old Inder Pamnani, 24-year-old Yash Pamnani, Yash Lakhwani, and Kailash Chatwani who is a resident of Godhra in Gujarat, police said. According to police, the daily turnover of Ravi Pamnani's betting racket was about Rs 7 to 10 lakhs.

Ujjain: The Crime Branch has seized over four kgs of gold, one kg of silver diamond necklaces, and Rs 18.2 lakh in cash during a raid against bookies at a house in the Jiwajiganj police station area on Sunday. Police said that while the main accused Ravi Pamnani has fled from the spot, five others have been arrested during the raid.

They further revealed that following a tip-off, the Crime Branch sleuths reached the house of Pamnani in civil dress under the pretext of an election campaign. During the raid 4,189 grams of gold, 1,129 grams of silver, diamond necklaces, 18 lakh 2 thousand rupees in cash, half a dozen calculators, 16 keypad phones, 14 Android phones apart from ledgers documenting transactions in crores were seized from the spot, police said.

Police sources said that during the raid, children and women were present in the house and the seized jewelry was weighed in presence of the arrested. Police also raided Pamnani's office in the Nanakheda area. They further revealed that the Jeeviganj police station in charge Gagan Badal has been suspended by SP Satyendra Kumar Shukla due to negligence in this regard.

"We were getting information about a betting racket operating in the Jeevjiganj police station area for a long time. After which, with the help of the police, the crime branch team raided the place. During the investigation, a basement built under the ground was also found in the house, inside which gold worth crores of rupees was kept. The police have confiscated goods worth crores including gold and silver jewelry, cash, and mobile phones," said Vinod Kumar Meena, CSP Crime Branch.

The arrested are 40-year-old Prakash Srivastava, 23-year-old Inder Pamnani, 24-year-old Yash Pamnani, Yash Lakhwani, and Kailash Chatwani who is a resident of Godhra in Gujarat, police said. According to police, the daily turnover of Ravi Pamnani's betting racket was about Rs 7 to 10 lakhs.