Future Gaming lodges formal complaint with Directorate against attempts to malign Sikkim lotteries and company

GANGTOK, 12 Jan: The Lotteries Directorate has confirmed that it has received a formal complaint from Future Gaming, the operator of Sikkim state lotteries, on the manner in which lotteries claimed be those of Sikkim lotteries were confiscated at Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, and Cochin, Kerala, recently.
Director, Lotteries, today informed that he had received a complaint letter from the company along with samples of the ‘fake’ Sikkim state lotteries which were allegedly confiscated by the Tamil Nadu and Kerala police but were being projected as genuine ones being smuggled into the two states where the lottery is banned.
These materials, the Director said, would be put up to the State government for examination and further action.
Future Gaming had written a complaint letter to the Director, Lotteries Directorate, bringing to his notice the incident relating to the confiscation of Sikkim lotteries by the Tamil Nadu and Kerala police and while claiming that it had nothing to do with the matter, further requested the Lotteries Directorate to find the actual culprits behind the racket who were trying to malign the reputation of Sikkim State Lotteries.
The fake lottery tickets have also been received by the Lotteries Directorate.
On preliminary examination, it appears that someone was attempting to defame the Sikkim lotteries as well as the company that operates it, it was informed. However, any further action will be up to the state government to take after examination of the materials at hand. There has been no formal or official communication between the state government here and the Kerala or Tamil Nadu government or police either, stated the Director.
On the other hand, it is informed that the CBI and other police agencies had also shown some interest in the matter. A CBI inspector from Kerala is informed to have been enquiring about the incident.
17.55 lakh paper lotteries worth Rs. 35.10 lakh were confiscated by the Coimbatore police last week and another few lakh lotteries were reported to have been confiscated by the Cochin police a couple of days later. Future Gaming contends that these lotteries are not Sikkim lotteries but fakes made by a rival group to defame them who then informed the police.