FIR links Kavlekar to anti-gambling investigations

Panaji: In what could create more troubles for Goa's Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar, the Goa Crime Branch has linked an FIR lodged against him over suspected links with alleged matka gambling trade, to the anti-gambling investigations launched by the police in 2015.

The crime branch had in 2015 initiated a probe against matka gambling activity in the state after social activist Kashinath Shetye filed a case against it in the same year. The Bombay High Court at Goa last month ruled against the gambling activity, directing the crime branch to form an SIT.

"The FIR under Goa Gambling Act filed against Kavlekar will now be linked to the main case against the matka (gambling). It will be a part of wider investigation against the gambling in the State," a senior crime branch official said.

Kavlekar, who is facing probe by the Anti-Corruption Bureau in connection with a case of DA against him, was also booked under the Goa Gambling Act, after police recovered several hundreds of matka gambling slips from his residence in South Goa's Betul during a search.