After running from pillar to post, he was advised to approach the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police where Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) S.M. Bhaskar heard his complaint and immediately sensed foul play. He deputed Sub-inspector (SI) O.P. Sagar to look into the matter.
A case of cheating, criminal conspiracy and theft was registered on the basis of Pritam’s complaint and an investigation was launched. The SI interrogated the employees concerned of the All India Deaf and Dumb Society in Delhi, who denied having received the winning ticket. It came to light that they had outsourced the running of the lottery to M/s Popular Ventures & Capitals Private Limited, who in turn had appointed M/s Bharat Lottery as their sole selling agent.

SI Sagar, the investigating officer (IO), was surprised when Praveen Kumar Jolly of Bharat Lottery said that the winning ticket had never been printed. Thus, the fraud perpetrated by Jolly was evident. The IO reported his findings to ACP Bhaskar, who instructed him to get to the bottom of the case by visiting Hyderabad and contacting the lottery department officials of the AP government since the Deaf and Dumb Society claimed to have the department’s approval.
When the SI inquired of the officials whether they had authorized the society to conduct the lottery, he was in for another shock. The society had been given permission to run a lottery only for its own members and not for the general public. Thus, the lottery that was being run by the society was unlawful.
As the probe went deeper, layer after layer of fraudulent activities began to emerge. The society had never approached the AP government for permission to hold a bumper draw. It conducted the bumper draw without the government’s approval and had also printed on the tickets that it was a government-approved draw of lots. No government official was present when the draw was carried out. Therefore, the society had given the public the false impression that it was organizing a lottery that had the approval of the AP government, when in reality it was running a private, unauthorized and fraudulent lottery.

To be continued