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MADURAI: A bunch of policemen got a taste of policing in Madurai when they were nabbed red-handed while gambling.

Seven policemen, including two sub-inspectors, were playing cards in a multi-storeyed building in the city outskirts on Friday night along with five others when a special team raided the hotel on a tip-off. The raiding team was shocked when they found it was policemen who were gambling but went ahead and arrested them.

However, three constables managed to escape. Police have also seized cash totaling Rs 14,800 from the gamblers.

"Out of the 12 men found gambling at the building, seven were policemen. We have arrested nine people including four policemen," Madurai Rural SP Asra Garg said. They were booked under the Gambling Act.

The arrested police were identified as S Kothaperumal (57), special sub-inspector, Meenakshi Amman temple police station, Karupiah (53), special sub-inspector, Thilagar Thidal station, traffic constable Balasubramanian (42) and constable Balamurugan (46). Police said the owner of the lodge that was used as a gambling den, Velu (51) of Puthur, James (42) a car driver, Rajendran (38), an auto driver from DRO Colony, Dharmar (50) of Puthur and Veerayya (47) of Sambakulam were the other arrested. The three policemen who fled the spot were constables working in the city commissioner’s office, Thilagar Thidal and Thideer Nagar stations.

Police said a team led by Othakadai inspector Chinnapandi raided the building housing various offices near Matthuthavani bus stand on the outskirts of the city around midnight. In one of the rooms, the police team found 12 persons playing cards with wads of cash for gambling. As soon as the police entered the room, three of the men there shoved them away and fled the spot. The remaining policemen revealed their identity in an attempt to get away from the raiding team. However, the police team went ahead and arrested them.

Though allegations of irregularities among policemen is common, the involvement of policemen in gambling and their arrest has indeed come as a shock to the police fraternity. Police said the arrested policemen were routinely in the practice of gambling in various places across the city as well as the outskirts. A few months back, they were even warned by a senior official not to gamble. A hotel owner who offered space to them were also warned. However, the policemen found it enough to shift their den to the outskirts.

This is not the first time policemen were arrested for gambling in Madurai. In July last year, three policemen were held on similar charges.