Tinsukia: A day after the arrest of one of the alleged masterminds in a multi-crore lottery scam in Assam, two journalists have been arrested by Tinsukia police on charges of their involvement in the scam that rocked the state.
The accused have been identified as Saurav Choudhury and Santosh Phukan. The duo was working for a regional satellite news channel.
The police on Saturday succeeded in arresting one of the masterminds, identified as Hridoy Kurmi, along with his three associates.
Confirming the development, Moidul Islam, additional superintendent of police (crime), said, “Based on the evidence collected during the course of the investigation, police have arrested two journalists in the lottery scam.”
“The accused journalists had facilitated the lottery and collected protection money from the lottery lobby. The hunt for Bhaskar Nath, the second mastermind, and his associates are on,” Islam added.
Islam said, “The modus operandi, prima facie, is that the organisers embezzled a huge amount of money by luring the natives of Assam, particularly villagers, with the promise of luxury prizes to the winners of the lottery tickets sold as gift coupons worth Rs 100 each.”
The Assam Game and Betting Act, 1970, prohibits lottery coupon games, making it a criminal offence for persons indulging in such activities.
According to a top police source, one of the journalists had sold tickets worth lakhs of rupees, while the other had demanded and accepted lakhs of rupees to provide protection and not report the scam.
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On Saturday, police arrested four more persons, taking the tally of those arrested to 10, including the 2 journalists, days after the lottery coupon game result went viral on social media on June 18. The investigation revealed that the draw was held in a room near Hotel Radisson in Guwahati.
Earlier, the president of No. 2 Kadamoni Namghar Parisalana Samity under Tinsukia police station had sought permission to hold a lottery coupon game. The police, in its report sent to the additional deputy commissioner, refused to give any permission as it violates the laws related to Assam Game and Betting Act.
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