Mumbai : Kankavli In a dramatic turn of events on Thursday evening, Maharashtra Cabinet Minister for Fisheries & Ports Development and Sindhudurg Guardian Minister, Nitesh Rane, personally led a raid on an illegal matka gambling den in Kankavli town.
The raid took place around 4 pm at a premises behind the town’s main marketplace, where matka bookings were allegedly being run by Mahadev Ramakant Ghevari and his associates. A video of the incident quickly went viral online.
Police seized registers, laptops, booking slips, furniture, and ₹2,78,725 in cash. Twelve people, including Ghevari, were arrested on charges of illegal gambling.
Those arrested include Mayur Pandav (30), Sandeep Padwal (46), Chandrakant Gavankar (57), Prashant Ghadigaonkar (43), Mahesh Bane (27), Anil Pashthe (48), Satish Gawade (40), Santosh Rathod (43), Tushar Jadhav (42), and Mahesh Devne (35).
Minister Rane confronted the accused on the spot before calling Kankavli Police Inspector Atul Jadhav to initiate strict action. He also phoned Sindhudurg Superintendent of Police Mohan Dahikar, warning that any police protection to gambling rackets would be escalated to the Home Ministry.
Police confirmed that the accused will face formal charges after completion of panchanama proceedings.
