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Crackdown continues on online lottery outlets

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, APRIL 30. Fake lottery tickets of other States worth crores were seized and many more online lottery outlets sealed on Friday as the District Lottery Officers continued the crackdown on the sale of illegal lotteries, in the wake of the High Court order which upheld the restrictions imposed by the Government under its lottery rules.

The enforcement officials who reached a godown at Attakkulam, near Attingal, after receiving information about fake lottery tickets worth Rs. 1.5 crores stored there, found that the entire stock had been burnt. Eight more online lottery outlets were sealed in the State capital today.

In Palakkad district, lottery officers sealed two rooms at Yakkara and Kunnathumedu, where fake lottery tickets worth crores had been stocked. From the centre at Kunnathumedu, officials also got evidence that lottery tickets were printed there for draws that were to have been conducted from May 10 to May 14.

In Ernakulam district also, apart from sealing 62 more online lottery outlets, the officials found and sealed an office that was being used as a godown for stocking lottery tickets printed at Palakkad. At Thodupuzha also, lottery tickets worth Rs. 12 lakhs were seized from a tourist home.

Officials said that most online outlets were closed in all districts, but that raids were still on. There were many outlets which used to function without proper display boards and efforts were on to identify these and seal the premises.

At Pathanamthitta, one of the online lottery outlets that had been sealed by officials yesterday was found open today, with the lottery terminal removed. The police have registered a case in this regard and have begun investigations.

Most of the paper lotteries being seized now are those brought out by Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram.

Meanwhile, the Director of State Lotteries, K. Sureshkumar, said the Government was yet to take a decision on filing a caveat in the Supreme Court, now that the online lottery operators have approached the apex court. It was necessary that caveat is filed before the Supreme Court so that the State will get a chance to be heard before the Supreme Court grants a stay on the High Court order, he said.

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