The Metropolitan Police Office has stepped up crackdown on gambling dens in Kathmandu Valley as the festival holidays draw near.
During the festivals of Dashain and Tihar, gambling services are operated in private homes, restaurants and hotels. The law enforcement authority believes that gambling leads to social crimes and violence.
Bearing this in mind, police has started raiding suspected gambling houses in the run-up to the festival season.
On July 13, the Metropolitan Police Sector, Balambu, arrested four persons from gamblers and seized Rs 45,250 from a house at Satungal in Chandragiri Municipality Ward No. 11. That same day, the Metropolitan Police Circle, Syambhu, also detained eight suspected gamblers from Pandhara in Nagarjun Municipality Ward No. 2 and seized Rs 127,300 from them.
In the last three fiscal years, police arrested 7,197 gamblers from across the country.

According to the data maintained by the Metropolitan Police Office, Rani Pokhari, alone more than Rs 19 million was recovered from 1,161 suspected gamblers from different parts of the Valley in the fiscal year 2018/19. In the first two months of this running fiscal year 2019/20, police detained 277 suspected gamblers and seized around Rs 2.13 million from them.

As the country’s law bars Nepali citizens from entering casinos with the intent of gambling, there are many illegal gambling dens that cater to Nepali gamblers.

According to the Gambling Act 1963, if one is caught for gambling offence for the first time, they shall be liable to a fine not exceeding Rs 200. For repeat offenders, there is a provision of jail sentence ranging from one month to a whole year.

According to the data of the past three fiscal years, the number of people arrested for gambling offence has risen steadily over the year. In the fiscal year 2018/19, police detained 2,869 people, the highest number of arrest in the past three years, from across the country. Nearly 40 percent (1,161) of the arrest was made in Kathmandu Valley.

In the fiscal year 2016/17, at total 1,504 suspected gamblers were arrested. The number rose to 2,824 in the fiscal year 2017/18.

Senior Superintendent of Police Uttam Subedi, also the chief of the Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu, said besides raiding illegal gambling joints, Nepal Police will also be keeping a close eye on drink driving through the period of Dashain and Tihar festivals.