Chandigarh:

The Punjab Police Sunday claimed to have busted an alleged gambling and immoral trafficking racket active in the Mohali district after arresting 70 people, including 10 women, during a late night operation at a city marriage palace, officials said.

The Organised Crime Control Unit of Punjab Police also impounded 47 vehicles, besides seizing Rs 8.42 lakh in cash, 40 liquor bottles, playing cards and laptops during their operation that followed a tip-off, state police chief Dinkar Gupta said.

“The backgrounds of all the persons involved in the gambling and immoral trafficking are being investigated,” he said.

Forensic examination of the seized laptops and mobile phones is also being conducted to extract further details, he said, according to an official statement.

Following the directions of Organised Crime Control Unit Chief Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, the operation was conducted on the intervening night of January 30 and January 31, around 1 AM, at a marriage palace located on the outskirts of Banur, towards Zirakpur, the statement said.

The arrested women were being used as bartenders and dancers, it said.

An case has been registered in the case under various provisions of the Excise Act, the Gambling Act and the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act.