The Kerala police have registered two cases against lottery tycoon Santiago Martin on charges of distributing fake tickets of Bhutan lotteries.
The first case was registered on the basis of proceedings initiated by Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan following reports that Martin through his lottery distributing company was printing and distributing Bhutan lottery tickets without legal authorisation.
The CM had directed Siby Mathew, who was then the additional director general of police (intelligence) and now the director general of police (fire and safety), to investigate the matter. Mathew reported that Martin and his associate Robert Kennedy were involved in forgery cases.
The second case against Martin was registered by the Fort police station following a directive by a local court. Acting on a private complaint, Chief Judicial Magistrate A M Basheer asked the police to register cases against Martin and Kennedy for allegedly selling fake tickets in the Fort area
The complainant Ishaq said that he had bought 10 tickets of Bhutan lottery from the Fort area, but there were no proper draws for these tickets. The tickets had secret code and the seal of the Bhutan government, which were later found to be fake. Ishaq also produced the tickets in court and said he can identify the vendor from whom he purchased the tickets.
The circle inspector is conducting investigation into the case, but was not available for comment when rediff.com contacted him.
Santi George, Ishaq's advocate, has requested the court to order a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the case, as the scam spreads from Thiruvananthapuram to Bhutan.
Martin has been in the centre of controversy in Kerala for the last few months with the Opposition parties alleging that he had siphoned off huge amounts from the state through sale of lottery tickets from other states by flouting rules and regulations of the Lottery Act.
