Purulia district police in West Bengal have dismantled a fake lottery racket and arrested two accused — Shakti Yadav and Ganesh Sau — both of whom had reportedly been absconding for nearly a year, a senior district police officer said on Tuesday, 16 June. A cash seizure of ₹10.42 lakh was made from the residence of one of the accused.

Who Was Arrested and How

Shakti Yadav, a resident of Amdanga village, operated as a lottery seller and distributor in the Neturia area. Ganesh Sau, from Ranipur village, was identified as the principal supplier within the fake lottery network. Both fall under the jurisdiction of the Neturia police station in Purulia district.

Investigators initially arrested Ganesh acting on specific intelligence inputs. His subsequent interrogation led to the identification of other network members, eventually resulting in the apprehension of Shakti. The duo was produced before the Raghunathpur sub-divisional court, which remanded them to five days in police custody.

How the Racket Operated

According to police, the accused printed counterfeit lottery tickets designed to closely resemble authorised paper lotteries, making them difficult for buyers to distinguish from legitimate ones. Sellers were reportedly offered significantly higher commissions on fake tickets compared to genuine ones — an incentive that drove the racket's expansion into rural and semi-urban areas, where detection was harder.

Preliminary findings indicate the fake tickets moved through a structured distribution chain before reaching local sellers, with unsuspecting buyers bearing the financial loss at the end of the chain.

Earlier Arrests and Broader Network

This is not the first enforcement action against the racket. On 23 April 2025, police had arrested two other individuals on charges of running a fake lottery business, recovering a large number of counterfeit tickets and ₹22,000 in cash. The main accused in that case had remained at large until recently.

Investigations have also revealed links between the network and individuals based in neighbouring Jharkhand. Police have not ruled out a similar interstate connection in the current case, suggesting the operation may extend beyond West Bengal's borders.

A Long-Running Problem in Purulia

Officials acknowledged that illegal lottery operations have been active in Purulia district for an extended period. The district police and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) have previously conducted multiple raids and made several arrests, yet the trade has reportedly persisted. The current crackdown signals a renewed push to dismantle the supply chain rather than target only street-level sellers.

With interrogations ongoing and interstate links under scrutiny, further arrests in the case are not ruled out by investigators.