India: man arrested for allegedly gambling on Ludo

The man allegedly used a website to gamble on the board game.

India.- A 26-year-old man was arrested in Memnagar, Ahmedabad, on Sunday evening (January 22) for allegedly gambling on Ludo online. Police officer Prakash Ramesh said he and colleague Vishwarajsinh Hardevsinh were on patrol when they received information that a man was playing the board game near Manav Mandir bus station.

The Times of India reported that the police officers found Dhaval Goswami has won Rs 8,000 playing via a website. They are reported to have taken screenshots of the game and charged Goswami with gambling.

To date, apart from the Supreme Court’s precedent on skill-based gambling, there is no federal statute to govern India’s gambling industry, with each state taking its own stance on the issue. 

Last December, Ashwini Vaishnaw, India’s minister of railways, communications and electronics and information technology says the government would formulate a law on online gaming. According to Business Standard, Vaishnaw met with the information technology ministers of all states to receive their input.

Vaishnaw said all ministers were concerned about addiction. He said: “We have taken up a very serious consultation process with all stakeholders. We will be able to come up with a proper policy very soon which might even involve a new law or a regulation, he explained.”