Kerala ready to fight lottery mafia

The Kerala government has ordered a probe by a special task force headed by inspector general Balram Kumar Upadhyay into complaints of fraud in “written lotteries” in the state.

The modus operandi of the lottery was to ask people to predict and write on a piece of paper the last three numbers of a winning lottery ticket.

If the “predictions” matched with the last three numbers of the winning ticket, whose lottery was conducted in the state, they will win the prize.

While replying to a notice seeking adjournment motion on the illegal lottery trade flourishing in the state, finance minister T.M. Thomas Isaac informed the Assembly that to take on the lottery mafia, the state would telecast live the result of the draw of Kerala State Lotteries everyday.

The government will also rework the prize structure of state lotteries to make them more attractive, Mr Isaac said. He said the state government will take strict action on the basis of the report of the special task force.

“It is suspected that an organised group is behind the lottery which operates more in the northern parts of the state,” he said.