Kathmandu, June 2

Nine businessmen, some of whom are ‘well-known faces’ in the business fraternity, were sent to five-day police custody after being arrested from a gambling den last night.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Raj Kumar KC, also the spokesperson for Metropolitan Police Range, Teku, said Kathmandu District Administration Office sent them to police custody for further investigation.

Among the arrested are Bimal Kumar Khetan, Ram Chandra Sanghai, Ashok Kumar Agrawal, Purushottam Agrawal, Suresh Kumar Agrawal, Govinda Ram Sariya, Nanda Kishor Sharma, Bimal Ahuja and Nikki Jogai.

Jogai, an Indian national, is the owner of a hotel, according to police. Similarly, Sanghai is managing director of Sanghai group and Ashok Kumar Agrawal is managing director of Vishal Group.

Acting on a tip-off, Metropolitan Police Circle, Durbarmarg, had raided the gambling den at Kamaladi-based Gangaur Regency Boutique Hotel yesterday at 6:30pm. A team led by DSP Ranjan Dahal had busted the gamblers.

Police have confiscated Rs 27,700 million and 179 casino chips from the gambling den.

Police said although the amount confiscated from such high-profile gamblers was small in comparison to similar cases they had cracked in the past, the arrested might have valued the casino chips at higher limit than the normal market price.

DSP Dahal said, “Normally, the value of such coins is Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 in casinos, but we are investigating if they had increased the value, so that the amount would not be very high in case they were arrested.”

The Gambling Act bars Nepali citizens from entering casinos.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on June 03, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.