Thanks to Internet, matka goes unabated in Adilabad

Adilabad: Modern information and communication technologies have changed the way we live. These technologies are also helping matka, a form of banned betting activity that is thriving in erstwhile Adilabad district. The gamblers are lured with promises of winning at least ten times the money they bet if they predict the numbers that are finalised […]

Adilabad: Modern information and communication technologies have changed the way we live. These technologies are also helping matka, a form of banned betting activity that is thriving in erstwhile Adilabad district. The gamblers are lured with promises of winning at least ten times the money they bet if they predict the numbers that are finalised through draw of lots in this form of gambling.

In recent times, WhatsApp has come in handy for the organisers of such illegal activities since earlier, they used to rely on telephones. The menace continues to grow with the organisers increasingly taking to online platforms to reach out to their customers and hoodwink the police.

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Police officers who studied the issue and are involved in controlling it say matka is an organized crime. The kingpins are based in Mumbai and Nagpur and operate through agents and sub-agents recruited in several parts of Adilabad, Kumram Bheem Asifabad, Nirmal and Mancherial.

Investigators say the modus operandi is that the agents and sub-agents collect the numbers predicted by the gamblers on WhatsApp, accept bets through digital payments platforms like Paytm, PhonPe, GooglePay among others. The matka numbers are disclosed and the pay out is made to the winners through the same platforms. They are paid a commission of 10 per cent on the amount they collect.

Till a few years ago, matka used to be organised twice daily. But, it is now conducted from 10 am to 10 pm a day, thanks to the proliferation of websites and instant messaging Apps. Some of the famous ”brand names” of these form of gambling are Sridevi, Timebazar, Kalyan, Milan, Madhuri, Rajadhani. The lowest amount that a person can invest is Rs 10.

The gamblers are paid 10 times their betting amount if they guess one of the three numbers ranging from 000 to 999, 100 times more than their amount if they can guess two and 1,000 times more if they can guess all three numbers that are drawn, The organisers, however, manipulate the numbers to ensure that the numbers that have high betting are not drawn.

Daily wage earners, financially weak persons, teachers, TSRTC employees and women are falling prey to this menace. “Since the bets are small, daily wage earners tend to indulge in this crime. Over a period of time, they get addicted even as they register losses. In fact, they ruin their lives by getting into such illegal betting activity,” a police official concedes.

As per information provided by the police, Adilabad district alone registered 25 cases and seized Rs 6.80 lakh in ash in 2021. The menace continues unabated with the agents and players keep changing their mobile numbers and shifting their base to neighboring Maharashtra. However, the police are leaving no stone unturned to clamp down the illegal activity in the district.

Superintendent of Police D Uday Kumar Reddy said that a special focus was laid on curbing the menace. A notorious matka organizer’s vehicle was seized and his henchmen were arrested in Adilabad a few months back. A tab is kept on habitual offenders. Stringent action would be initiated against those involved in the offence, he warned.