Police in Madhupur, Jharkhand, pulled off a dramatic raid that blew the lid off a sophisticated fake lottery operation spanning two states. Acting on a tip‑off, Pathrol police stopped a passenger bus en route to Sarath near Bara‑Bahadur village on a Friday. What they found was a cache of nine bags stuffed with counterfeit lottery tickets, printing presses, inks and other gear capable of churning out thousands of bogus tickets.
How the bust unfolded
The bus was checked after officers received secret intelligence indicating a large shipment was heading toward West Bengal. Inside the luggage, investigators recovered equipment that rivals small‑scale commercial printers—high‑resolution plates, heat‑press machines, and specialist paper rolls. The seized tickets have been evaluated at a value running into several lakhs of rupees, underscoring the hefty cash flow such scams generate.
Two men, Jalaluddin Sheikh and Tajim Sheikh, both residents of Sirsiya village, were arrested on the spot. Court orders saw them placed behind bars immediately. In addition to these arrests, a First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against three identified individuals and an estimated four to five unnamed conspirators believed to be part of the broader network.
Implications and next steps
This operation shines a light on how inter‑state criminal outfits exploit regulatory gaps between states. By printing the fake tickets locally in Jharkhand and shipping them to West Bengal, the gang dodged tighter lottery controls in either jurisdiction. Authorities say the scheme preyed on vulnerable citizens, luring them with false promises of big wins while pocketing illegal profits.
- Seizure includes nine bags of counterfeit tickets and advanced printing equipment.
- Two suspects arrested; several more named in the FIR.
- Tickets intended for distribution in West Bengal, indicating a cross‑border supply chain.
- Police continue to track down remaining gang members involved in manufacturing, transport, and sale.
The Madhupur police force is now extending its probe to uncover the full scale of the operation. They aim to map out the distribution routes, identify the financiers, and dismantle any subsidiary cells still active. This bust is expected to deliver a strong deterrent message to other criminal networks that rely on loopholes between state boundaries.
While the immediate impact is the removal of lakhs of counterfeit tickets from circulation, the longer‑term goal is to protect citizens from falling prey to such scams. The fake lottery racket investigation will remain a priority as law‑enforcement agencies coordinate across state lines to close the loopholes that allowed this scheme to thrive.