Bagodar, located in the Giridih district of Jharkhand, has emerged as a notorious center for the illegal sale of lottery tickets from Sikkim and Nagaland. The market for counterfeit lottery tickets has seen a significant rise in Bagodar and other areas, preying on the aspirations of common people who dream of winning millions of rupees.
According to report published by English Daily Jagaran, these illicit lottery tickets are predominantly procured in large quantities from Asansol in Bengal through the Lottery Ticket Syndicate operating in Sikkim and Nagaland. Furthermore, the trade of duplicate lottery tickets is rampant, with substantial consignments being transported from Dhanbad to Bagodar. The towns of Sariya and Aura also grapple with the menace of illegal lotteries.
According to reports, Bagodar alone conducts daily lottery operations worth Rs. 4 to 5 lakh. The allure of winning enormous sums of money has captivated a growing number of individuals, mistakenly believing that the lottery is a path to instant riches. Approximately 18 to 20 locals in Bagodar are employed in this industry, including three to four wholesale vendors.
This burgeoning issue primarily affects the underprivileged, such as daily wage laborers, car drivers, porters, and street vendors. By investing their hard-earned money in the lottery on a daily basis, they often end up losing their earnings for the day. Moreover, these vulnerable individuals fall victim to “fake” lotteries, resulting in burglaries at their homes. Meanwhile, those involved in the illicit lottery trade reap substantial profits.
Since February 2022, the authorities have taken action against the sellers of illegal lottery tickets, leading to widespread confiscation of cash and lottery tickets. Members of the syndicate involved in this illegal trade have also been detained. However, despite these efforts, the issue of duplicate lotteries persists in the region, posing a continuous challenge.
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