5 held in Thane for amassing, selling game coins on Facebook

Police said two of the accused are brothers and had hired three of their friends on a monthly salary of ₹10,000 to play the game the entire day

Mumbra police arrested five people for amassing and selling coins they amassed while playing game of cards ‘Teen Patti’. Police said the accused used Facebook to announce they had coins and took money from buyers via Patym.

The accused would charge ₹12 for 1 lakh coins and had been operating for the past eight month. (Pic for representation)

Police said two of the accused are brothers and had hired three of their friends on a monthly salary of ₹10,000 to play the game the entire day. The accused would charge ₹12 for 1 lakh coins and had been operating for the past eight month.

They said Mohammed Akil Khan, 30, and Mohammed Kamil Khan, 29, hired their friends Mohammed Ashraf Siddiqui, 28, Mohammed Umar Shaikh, 27, and Mohammed Faisal Khan, 40. All five are residents of Mumbra and had been operating for the past eight months.

During interrogation, the brothers said they would make anywhere between ₹50,000 to ₹60000 after paying their friends. However, police suspect they earned more.

“It was Akil who came with the idea of collecting coins and selling them after which they asked their friends join them and make quick bucks. There were times when the accused played the game through the night. The brothers would order food for their friends,” said an officer from Thane crime branch unit -1.

To keep suspicion at bay, Akil rented an apartment in Mumbra.

“Acting on a tip-off, we raided the house on Wednesday and seized ₹2.8 lakh, 59 mobile phones, six internet routers, five adaptors, 17 mobile chargers and an accounts book which they used to keep track of transactions. We also found a debit card. We have registered a case under relevant sections,” said senior inspector Nitin Thakare from Thane crime branch unit-1.