The rise of Pari Rajan as lottery kingpin

BENGALURU: On his right hand were two gold bracelets and on his left a gold-plated watch. He also wore two gold chains. That was Pari Rajan before he was arrested, the 52-year-old alleged bigwig of illegal single-digit lottery operations in Kolar that he successfully managed for about two decades right under the noses of top policemen.

Rajan's beginnings were more humble. His father migrated decades ago from Tamil Nadu to work at Kolar's gold mines as a coolie. For most people in Bangarpet in Kolar Gold Fields, where Rajan grew up, he was just one of them. It was only when a Kannada news channel conducted a sting operation two months ago exposing the illegal lottery operations that Rajan was introduced to them as its kingpin.

Since his arrest two weeks ago, Rajan has morphed into a nightmare for the several policemen he counted among “friends“. The latest victim was Alok Kumar, additional commissioner of police, law and order and crime, Bengaluru West, who was suspended on Saturday for his links with Rajan.

According to Bangarpet police, Rajan's family moved from Adraspete, where families of Kolar's mining labourers lived, to a huge bungalow in upmarket Bharath Nagar as the lottery business grew. He also owns a 22-acre farm land.

Rajan was in his early 30s when he joined a lottery ticket wholesale rading firm in Kolar as a public relations officer, whose main job was to manage policemen in the area so they wouldn't interfere in the business. After Karnataka banned lotteries in 2007, many agencies continued illegally and Rajan's contacts in the police helped the business fan out in the entire state, said senior officials at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the agency probing the single-digit lottery scam.

Rajan initially began building contacts with police constables and local inspectors, bearing gifts, cash and laddus from Tirupati. According to CID sources, Rajan had kept aside crores of rupees to bribe his police contacts, with whom he kept in touch using an assortment of about 20 SIM cards. The clout he built helped him expand operations into Tamil Nadu as well.