Police Raid At Madhya Pradesh IAS Officer's Farmhouse Exposes Gambling Op, 18 Arrested

A police raid in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district has blown the lid off an alleged gambling operation being run from a farmhouse registered in the name of a senior IAS officer.

Acting on a tip-off, police reached the farmhouse on Wednesday to find the main gate locked from outside. When cops heard voices coming from inside the premises, they entered from the rear gate of the property. Police quickly surrounded several people playing cards in a veranda. 18 gamblers were caught, while five others managed to escape in the darkness. 

According to police officials, the farmhouse is registered in the name of former Shahdol Collector and current Managing Director of the Madhya Pradesh Finance Development Corporation Vandana Vaidya and her husband Ambrish Vaidya.

During the raid, police recovered Rs 13.67 lakh in cash, playing cards, 30 mobile phones and two cars, taking the total value of seized property to nearly Rs 28.67 lakh.

Police identified the missing accused as Jagdish Rathod alias "Uncle" alias "Kubada", Gopal, Pappu, Ashish Jain and farmhouse caretaker Ranjeet Cahudhary. Police teams have launched a search operation to track them down.

Superintendent of Police Yangchen Dolkar Bhutia said Rathod appears to be the main operator of the gambling racket, while Chaudhary allegedly allowed the premises to be used for gambling parties in exchange for money.

The arrested accused whave been sent to jail. Investigators are now examining mobile phones seized from the spot to determine whether the gambling den was part of a larger organised betting network operating in the region.

Vaidya said she came to know about the police raid through social media after the action had already taken place. According to her statement, the farmhouse is her private property maintained by a caretaker, and she has no connection with the people arrested by police. She also alleged that the property may have been entered without permission and that theft cannot be ruled out, urging authorities to conduct a fair and impartial investigation.