Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) in an overnight drive arrested four members of an online gambling-‘Shillong Teer’-syndicate from different parts of the city.
Talking to the Bangladesh Post, Mir Modasser Hossain, deputy commissioner of the DB (Cyber and Special Crime Division) of the DMP, confirmed the matter on Wednesday.
According to websites, Shillong Teer is an archery-based lottery that is conducted by the Khasi Hills Archery Sports Association comprising a group of 12 archery clubs from a particular locality of Assam. Every day, 50 archers shoot 30 arrows each at 3:45 pm and 20 arrows in the second round at 4:45 pm.
Md Najmul Hoque, senior assistant commissioner of Organized Crime Investigation Team, said the arrested were primarily identified as Md Shamim Miah, 30, Md Abdul Ali, 31, Md Ershad Miah, 29 and Md Shohag Miah, 27.
Police also seized six mobile phone sets, one register book, four charts written in numeric numbers from 1 to 99 and five unused charts.
AC Najmul said, “Shillong Teer gambling first started in Indian Shillong and Gouhati in 1990. Later this gambling spread in Sylhet region rapidly. At one stage, the gambling spread in different parts of the country including Kishorganj and Netrokona district.”
On a secret information, a team of DB’s Organized Crime Investigation Team led by Senior AC Najmul raided the city’s Gulshan area and nabbed Shamim and Abdul Ali, two members of the gang, on August 24.
As per their information, the police team later raided Kolmakanda Upazila in Netrokona district on August 25.
Police arrested Ershad and Shohag, two agents, from the area.
During the primary interrogation, the arrested agents of the Shillong Teer syndicate admitted that the Indian gamblers appointed their local agents in Bangladesh. Later Bangladeshi agents appointed their salesmen across the country. These salesmen lured ordinary people and make them addicted to Shillong Teer gambling.
They use India-based websites www.teertoday.com for the online gambling. Salesmen communicate with the local agents to buy the numbers from 1 to 99.
Later gamblers buy these numeric numbers from the salesmen with different sums of money. Agents take money from the salesmen against these sold numbers.
Except Sunday, lottery of the gambling is held every day around 4pm. One number is declared the winner. The winner is supposed to be awarded eighty times higher amount of money than the rate of the cost of the numeric number through the agents. But most of the gamblers lose every penny. All the transactions are completed through mobile banking.
Salesmen collect money from the gamblers. They take their commission and the rest of the amount they sent to the agents.
Staying in the capital Dhaka, Shamim and Abdul Ali collect money from the salesmen. They later send money to Ershad and Shohagin Netrokona. Ershad and Shohag finally send money to Sylhet for sending the money to India through Hundi.
AC Najmul said, “These gangs are earning an enormous amount hoodwinking the ordinary gullible people holding out various lucrative offers.”
A case was filed with Gulshan Police Station under the Digital Security Act.
“We produced them before a Dhaka Court seeking a five- day remand for each”, he added.
DC Mir Modasser Hossain told Bangladesh Post that the arrested gamblers have been involved in the online gambling since three years last.
Responding to a question, he said, “We are investigating whether the gangs are involved in illegal Hundi to send money to the Indian gamblers of the Shillong Teer syndicate.”
