Mumbai:
In a late night raid at a room in a five star hotel, policemen on Friday arrested seven top businessmen from the city Mumbai for gambling.
Along with the seven, two gambling organisers were also arrested and a total of Rs 3.25 lakh was seized. The Social Service Branch (SSB) of the police carried out the raid in the Taj President Hotel, Cuffe Parade. The businessmen are reportedly well-known individuals (sari manufacturers, wholesale dealers, etc) living in Dadar and Lalbaug. Those arrested include Naresh Bhende, Suresh Sagula, Ketan Shah, Shravan Jain, Ramesh Rathod, Raju Phad, Manoj Jagtania along with organisers Sandeep Chalke and Ashwin Bhansali.
According to Assistant Commissioner of Police (SSB) Vasant Dhoble, the accused were later released on bail. The raid comes in the wake of another such raid that was carried out on August 6 by the same team. Then, a three star hotel, Imperial Hotel in Goregaon (East) was raided and 23 people arrested. A total of 5.42 lakh was seized and among those arrested included Abhishek Mehta, the son of well-known BJP MLA Prakash Mehta.