Ahmedabad, Aug 27 (IANS): The Ahmedabad Crime Branch conducted a raid in Sarkhej village on Tuesday, arrested five people and seized cash and valuables amounting to over Rs 5.15 lakh.

Officials from the Crime Branch informed that the raid took place behind the Union Office in Sarkhej village, where the “accused were caught red-handed engaging in illegal gambling.

The five people arrested have been identified as Biren Kanu Parmar, Gulam Kader Rehman Mithani, Mahesh Suresh Thakor, Dhamendra Chandrakant Devalekar, and Suyashkant Ramesh Parmar.

During the raid, the Crime Branch recovered Rs 25,170 in cash, five mobile phones valued at Rs 50,000, nine vehicles worth Rs 4,40,000, and various gambling paraphernalia. The total value of the seized items amounts to Rs 5,15,170.

Biren Parmar, 30, is a resident of Gayatrinagar in Sarkhej village, Ahmedabad, and hails originally from Ghuma village in Ahmedabad District. Gulam Kader, 37, resides in Gebansha Society, near Geetanagar in Jasdan, Rajkot District. Mahesh Thakor, 29, lives near the Moti Water Tank in Redo Vas, Sarkhej, Ahmedabad. Dhamendra Chandrakant Devalekar, 45, resides near Datta Mandir in Sarkhej, Suyashkant Parmar, 33, is a resident of Gayatrinagar.

"Several suspects managed to flee the scene, abandoning their vehicles. The vehicles left behind include an Ather electric scooter (GJ-01-AS-5120), a Honda Shine bike (GJ-01-AS-3475), a Bajaj Discover bike (GJ-01-MJ-0635), and an Activa scooter (GJ-01-ASL-0137). The identities of these individuals are currently unknown, and investigations are ongoing. A case has been registered under Section 12 of the Gujarat Prevention of Gambling Act at the DCB Police Station," officials added.

They said that investigations revealed that some of the accused have a history of crime. Gulam Kader was previously arrested in two gambling cases by the Jasdan Police. Mahesh Thakor was arrested in 2016 in connection with a double murder while Suyashkant Parmar has a prior arrest for gambling.