Police raid at a star hotel uncovers gambling

Chennai: At least 22 people, including businessmen, traders, a film industry makeup artist and a racecourse employee, were arrested for gambling with cash during a police raid at a star hotel in Teynampet on Friday night. Police seized ₹81.58 lakh in cash, 25 mobile phones and a cash-counting machine from the premises.Acting on a tip-off, a special team from the Teynampet police station conducted a surprise raid at the hotel. During the operation, police found a group of people engaged in gambling with money. The officers detained all those present and took them to the police station for inquiry.The arrested persons were identified as Sekar, 66, a makeup artist in the film industry; Kabir, 44, and Ramesh, 52, real estate businessmen; Rajesh, 28, an employee of the Guindy Racecourse; Naganathan, 47, a real estate professional; Sekar, 62, Kalaiselvam, 62, and Prabhu, 41, construction businessmen; Manmohan Reddy, 42, Srinivasan, 43, Sundarraj, 33, and Nataraj, 36, textile traders.The remaining accused were identified as Sekar, 66, Venkatesh Subbareddy, 52, Rajendran, 38, Gunasekaran, 31, Narasimha Moorthy, 30, Sekar, 67, Srinivasan, 26, Ezhumalai, 56, Jayachandran, 52, and Anandhan, 40.Police seized ₹80,58,030 in cash, 25 mobile phones and a cash-counting machine from the accused. Investigators are examining the source of the money and the circumstances under which the gambling event was organised. Five of them were produced before a magistrate court in the city and remanded in judicial custody, while the other 17 were let off after an undertaking.A case was registered against the accused under provisions relating to gambling, and further investigation is under way.