Rajkot: The Amreli police had to eat the humble pie as the shop in Damnagar town that they raided over suspicion of facilitating online gambling turned out to be a genuine business of selling vastu and pooja-related products.
The police reportedly toed the BJP legislator from Lathi seat, Janak Talaviya, who carried out a ‘janta raid’ on the shop on the night of June 13 taking along other people who suspected the illegal activity flourishing there.The cops also arrived at the scene but there was no one present in the shop. They seized electronic gadgets like LED TV, CPU, keyboard, a mobile charger, and wi-fi modem. Later, the police questioned the shop owner Kaushik Gohil, and learnt that he held the franchise of HS Online Marketing, a company that sells and conducts online draws for vastu puja yantra, which is widely used as an instrument to ward off negative energies, bring good fortune and giving a protective shield to homes and offices. The policemen found themselves in an embarrassing position when Gohil showed them a 2013 order of the Gujarat High Court which had ruled in its favour on a petition against coervice action by the authorities.

The company argued that they were engaged in the business of “all kinds of products, sales and service through e-bidding, e-selling of yantras, pooja products, vastu products, religious artifact, Feng Shui etc,” and that their promotional and gift scheme did not involve elements of wagering or betting, and therefore did not constitute gambling.
The high court, in its order, stated that the business conducted by HS Online Marketing was not considered an activity of gambling. In light of this order, the Amreli police issued a press release on June 14, clarifying that “Honorable high court considered marketing through online draw and sale of vastu puja yantra as an entertainment and not gambling. The news is published that MLA Janak Talaviya raided a gambling den but we did not find anybody who was involved in gambling or facilitating such activity. We did not find any material related to gambling from the spot.”

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