Ahmedabad Police Invoke PASA Against Manpasand Gymkhana Operator, 5 Others

Ahmedabad: The Prevention of Crime Branch (PCB) of the city police arrested the operator of Manpasand Gymkhana in Dariapur and five alleged associates late Tuesday and detained them under the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act (PASA) in connection with a gambling case.

The action came after the State Monitoring Cell (SMC) raided the gymkhana on August 3. According to police, more than 180 people were detained during the raid, following which a case was registered against Govind Patel alias Gamo, 55, and others for allegedly facilitating gambling activities. The other accused have been identified as Kishor Padhiar, 58, Narayan Raval, 40, Anand Thakor, 40, Vipul Shah, 36, and Nikunj Khatri, 43.

Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gahlaut said the preventive action was aimed at curbing organised gambling and preventing habitual offenders from taking advantage of legal loopholes to avoid police action.

After the case was registered, Gahlaut directed the PCB to take stringent action against the alleged key operators and their associates. PCB teams were formed to trace the accused, who were found at different locations across the city.

Police said the six accused, who have criminal records, were apprehended late Tuesday. They were subsequently served with PASA detention orders and lodged in separate jails in Rajkot, Vadodara, Bhuj and Surat. DeshGujarat