Police have arrested 17 people on charges of gambling during the Dashain festival in separate operations in Lalitpur and Chitwan districts, seizing cash and playing cards from some of the suspects. The largest single recovery came on Monday evening, when security personnel raided a hotel in Dhungesanghu, Imadol, in Mahalaxmi Municipality-4 of Lalitpur and detained four people who were allegedly playing cards on the premises. Officers recovered Rs 353,835 in cash and seven decks of playing cards from the group, according to reports published by RatoPati and Pradesh Khabar.
Large cash seizure in Monday evening raid
The Lalitpur operation took place as families and friends across the country were gathered for Dashain, Nepal's biggest festival, which is traditionally accompanied by card games and other forms of recreation. According to the reports, the four suspects were found playing cards at a hotel in the Dhungesanghu area of Imadol when police moved in and took them into custody.
Key details of the raid include:
- Location: A hotel in Dhungesanghu, Imadol, Mahalaxmi Municipality-4, Lalitpur
- Detained: Four individuals allegedly engaged in card gambling
- Recovered: Rs 353,835 in cash and seven decks of playing cards
- Timing: Monday evening, during the Dashain festival period
The presence of a substantial amount of cash alongside multiple decks of cards indicates that the game underway at the hotel was far removed from the informal, token-stake play that is generally associated with family gatherings during the festival. Details regarding the identities of those detained and any formal charges were not included in the initial reports.
Thirteen more arrests in Chitwan
The four arrests in Lalitpur form part of a wider tally of 17 detentions across two districts during the festival. The remaining 13 arrests were carried out in Chitwan district, taking the combined total for the two districts to 17, according to the reports.
The Chitwan cases add to a pattern seen every Dashain, when police across the country register dozens of gambling-related arrests. Further particulars of the Chitwan detentions, including where they took place, the amounts seized, or the number of people involved in each individual case, were not immediately detailed in the initial reporting.
A festival tradition that runs into the law
Dashain is the longest and most widely celebrated festival in Nepal's Hindu calendar, spanning 15 days from Ghatasthapana and culminating with the tika and jamara blessings that mark Vijaya Dashami. It is the time of year when cities empty out as people travel back to their ancestral homes, and family reunions often stretch into long evenings of cards, dice and board games.
Games such as Call Break and other variations of kali taas are a near-universal pastime during the festival, and playing for small stakes among relatives has long been treated as a tolerated social custom. The custom, however, exists alongside a clear legal line: gambling is prohibited under Nepali law, and organized or commercial gambling outside licensed premises can lead to arrest. Licensed casinos do operate within the country, but Nepali citizens are barred from gambling in them.
Police typically intensify checks against gambling during Dashain and the Tihar festival that follows, when card parties become widespread and incidents of high-stakes play tend to rise. Arrests of the kind made in Lalitpur and Chitwan this week are therefore a recurring feature of the season, with officers often citing the recovery of cash and cards as evidence that a game crossed from family recreation into illegal gambling.
The Rs 353,835 recovered from the Imadol hotel is among the more notable single recoveries reported during this year's festival period so far. The seven decks of playing cards found with the suspects similarly point to a larger, organized gathering rather than a single game at one table.
Enforcement set to continue through the festival
The operation in Imadol and the arrests in Chitwan signal that enforcement of gambling laws remains active while the festival is still under way. Those taken into custody are expected to face legal action in line with Nepal's provisions against gambling, with the seized cash and cards serving as evidence in the cases against them.
For the public, the arrests serve as a reminder of where the law draws the line during the festivities. While small, private card games among family members remain a fixture of Dashain celebrations in homes across the country, gambling that involves significant sums of money, commercial settings such as hotels, or gatherings of strangers invites police intervention.
With Dashain celebrations still ongoing and families continuing to gather in large numbers, the 17 arrests in Lalitpur and Chitwan are likely to be followed by further enforcement action elsewhere in the country as the festival season progresses. Readers can follow updates on the cases through RatoPati and Pradesh Khabar.
