Ahmedabad: The city police’s prevention of crime branch (PCB) arrested the operator of Manpasand Gymkhana in Dariapur and five alleged associates late on Tuesday under the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act (PASA) in connection with a gambling case.The action followed a raid by the State Monitoring Cell (SMC) at the gymkhana on Aug 3. Police said the raid led to the detention of more than 180 people and the registration of a case against Govind Patel alias Gamo, 55, and others for allegedly facilitating gambling.The other accused were 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 taken to curb organised gambling and prevent habitual offenders from exploiting legal loopholes to evade police action.Following the registration of the case, Gahlaut directed the PCB to initiate stringent action against the alleged key operators and their associates. PCB officials formed separate teams and traced the accused to different locations across the city.Police said the accused, who have criminal records, were apprehended late on Tuesday. They were subsequently served with PASA detention orders and lodged in separate jails in Rajkot, Vadodara, Bhuj and Surat.Police officials said PASA was invoked to prevent the accused from allegedly continuing such activities and to deter habitual offenders from operating gambling networks.
