The Pune rural police in Bhigwan arrested 26 people including a former deputy sarpanch and city head of Shiv Sena political party in a night raid on a gambling den.
The gambling den was located near the foothill along Nimbodi road in Madanwadi area of Indapur and the raid was conducted around 6:10pm, according to assistant police inspector (API) Jeevan Mane of Bhigwan police station.
All the men were produced in a local court on Sunday and granted bail.
Among the 26 people were Sachin Uttam Mane (31), a resident of Tandulwadi area of Baramati who is the Baramati head of Shiv Sena and Jaydeep Shankarrao Jadhav (42), a resident of Bhigwan in Indapur who is the former deputy sarpanch of Bhigwan, according to the police.
The den was run in a tin shed built near a sugarcane field close to a foothill and has now been destroyed, according to the police.
The den was run by Hanumant Manik Thorat (52), a resident of Madanwadi area of Indapur.
{{/usCountry}}The den was run by Hanumant Manik Thorat (52), a resident of Madanwadi area of Indapur.
{{/usCountry}}The men were arrested while being in possession of cash worth ₹1,12,780 and belongings worth ₹3,12,780, according to the police.
“We had arrested Thorat last year too. But he stopped due to the lockdown for some time. And we again got a whiff of their activities. They have managed to get information about police raids 2-3 times before but this time we wore civil clothes and went on two-wheelers. They had also made use of the farm behind the house. Therefore, we sealed the exits first and then announced ourselves,” said API Mane.
A case under relevant sections of Maharashtra Prevention of Gambling Act was registered at Bhigwan police station.