SIBU: Police arrested 17 suspected gamblers who had converted a children’s playground into a makeshift cockfighting pit in Sibu Jaya here on Sunday.
The arrests were made during one of 34 raids conducted by police to stamp out gambling activities in the state between July 31 and yesterday.
Sarawak Criminal Investigation Department chief Datuk Dev Kumar said various paraphernalia used in cockfighting, including two live roosters, were seized during the raid.
"Those arrested at the playground were among 75 people rounded up during our state-wide crackdown," he said in a statement today.
Dev said 29 raids were conducted on premises operating as illegal lottery centres, and 35 people were detained.
"We also seized more than RM9,000 from the premises, apart from mobile phones, portable printers, calculators, betting slips and stationery,” he added.
Three raids, said Dev, were conducted on cyber gambing centres and a fish machine outlet in Miri.
Another raid was conducted at a public place in Dalat, in which six people were arrested for playing "Holo".
All detainees, aged between 16 and 62, are being investigated under the Common Gaming House Act 1953 and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance 1962.