Osman Gani

Our Bangladesh is moving forward in step with the world. It is not lagging behind in terms of information technology either. Taking advantage of the ongoing benefits of information technology, a class of people in our country are getting involved in criminal activities in the society, the country and the world. These people are taking the services of information technology and influencing this service in various ways. Online betting is being done using smartphones on social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter. Which the common people of the country know as online gambling. In the digital age, a class of criminals are using this good use for bad purposes as well as for bad purposes. Online gambling has now started to be popular through social media. As a result, as digital benefits are being enjoyed, crimes are also happening. This online gambling is more dangerous than casinos and ordinary gambling. Thousands of millions of dollars are being transacted in this gambling every day from everywhere using technology. In addition to criminals, gambling addiction has spread among ordinary students, educated and semi-educated people. Many students are getting involved in the deadly game of online gambling by skipping school and college. Many have lost everything due to gambling addiction. Some have even chosen the path of suicide. Even influential families and public celebrities are getting involved in this online gambling. Due to online gambling, this 'crime game' has spread from the capital Dhaka to remote villages.

Thousands of children in the country have become addicted to online gambling. Some started betting on online gambling out of curiosity and have now become professional gamblers. This digital crime of online gambling has spread from cities to villages across the country. Many students from schools, colleges, and universities have become involved in the crime of betting on online gambling. This has caused panic and anxiety among parents. The crime of online gambling has created new panic in society. People of all ages, from curious young people to those of all ages, are being attracted to various gambling sites. Hundreds of crores of taka are being transacted every day in online gambling. Ordinary people start gambling with five to ten thousand taka and lose lakhs of taka due to greed. Many of the addicts are even committing suicide after losing money in gambling. Due to the lack of proper laws and information, the law enforcement agencies are unable to bring those involved in online gambling under the law. Family unrest and marital strife are increasing due to losing everything due to gambling addiction. To earn money from gambling, some have resorted to murder, robbery, theft, dacoity, and banditry. From young and old, rich and poor, businessmen, students, daily wage workers, and educated unemployed, who is not addicted to this addiction? From residential hotels, homes, rest houses, guest houses, and even rice hotels.

Online gambling is booming. Most of the online gambling sites are operated from different countries including Russia, India, Malaysia, Indonesia. These sites operated from abroad are operated by agents from Bangladesh. At a time when the dollar crisis in the country is taking a terrible shape, hundreds of crores of taka are being smuggled abroad from gambling investments. In addition to various bank accounts, gamblers are also paying for transactions through mobile banking bKash, Nagad, Rocket and other means. At the end of the day, small bets in online gambling turn into a large sum of money and are being smuggled out of the country in dollars every day. Gambling app regulators are sitting abroad and converting this money into dollars through local syndicates and agents employed in Bangladesh. Some have become owners of crores of taka.

According to experts, online gambling is like an addiction, once you get into it, there is no way but to become destitute. As the participants are destitute, domestic violence is increasing, affecting law and order. In addition to making timely laws, police monitoring needs to be increased. With the ease of mobile and technology, people are getting involved in gambling very easily. Two circles are involved behind this. One is a gambling agent and the other is an agent of mobile financial services. Without an agent, no one can gamble. That is, money transactions are not possible. If mobile banking agent numbers are not used for money transactions, then online gambling will be stopped to a large extent. Law enforcement agencies want a new law to control online gambling. If gambling is done using equipment in public, action is taken under the Public Gambling Act of 1867. But online gambling

Legal action cannot be taken. All aspects of gambling are online. Gambling sites are being advertised in Bengali targeting Facebook users. Various offers are also being given for installing online casino apps. Even the image of Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is being used in the advertisement. By running betting sites named Mail Bet, One X Bet and Bet Winner on online platforms through Ukrainian websites Bynani.com, Bynani Twenty4.com, Bynani, Profi IQ, Bynani Go apps, crores of taka are being smuggled abroad. One X Bet is an online gambling site. But the name One X Bet is being shown in the advertisement. Law enforcement agencies have no information about who owns these gambling sites spread across the country or where they are being operated from. Technical measures are being taken to control the use of these apps

The regulatory authorities lack capacity. They say that it is not easy to prevent online gambling since it is conducted from abroad. WhatsApp numbers are given on the Facebook pages of some gambling houses. No information was obtained by contacting them. Instead, the condition is to become a member of the group in exchange for money. The national identity card number, name, age, date of birth and mobile phone number are asked for. Permission to become a member of the group is granted only if this information is provided. Hundreds of crores of taka are being transacted in the country every day in online gambling. A large part of this is being smuggled abroad. Many of the country's influential people have information about their involvement in online gambling, but due to the lack of specific evidence, those influential people have always remained out of reach. They (the influential people) are also smuggling all the money they earn from online outside the country. Currently, there is a massive expansion of financial inclusion in the country.

Due to this, the level of transactions through Mobile Financial Services (MFS) and digital payments has increased significantly. Taking advantage of this technological development, some unscrupulous groups have indulged in criminal activities such as online gambling-betting, gaming, foreign cryptocurrency trading and hundi. As a result, on the one hand, money laundering from the country is increasing, on the other hand, the country is losing a lot of foreign currency and as a result, the economy is being damaged. Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) and other relevant law enforcement agencies are working together to prevent all types of money laundering, including money laundering through online gambling/betting and hundi.

People addicted to online gambling say that even though these games are played openly, people around them do not understand. Most of the people participating in gambling have smartphones. Those who do not have them can rent smartphones for 200 to 300 taka until a certain time of the day. In most cases, the first participants are lured into gambling by winning. Then, when they get addicted, they start losing money one after another. Then there is no way out. Using social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp, multiple groups add gambling addicts to various secret groups. These transactions increase especially during the IPL, BPL and World Cup. Most gambling is about cricket and football. The gambling trap on betting apps is not only concentrated in cities. It has now spread to all corners of the country, surpassing cities. Ordinary people are falling into the trap of gambling out of greed and losing everything. However, RAB has brought many gamblers under the law before. Since almost everyone has a smartphone in their hands and everyone is more or less attracted to using technology, many are turning to online gambling out of greed. People addicted to this type of gambling are involved in various professions. Several people sit in a group to gamble. Gambling money is exchanged from dollars to Bangladeshi taka. Numerous young people and their families have lost everything in this type of gambling. Some commit suicide after losing everything. To protect ourselves from online gambling, we have to be aware from our own position. Parents of students of educational institutions who are involved in online gambling should keep a watchful eye on them. The local police administration should take more initiatives to stop online gambling. Poster leaflets should be distributed everywhere in the country as a warning and everyone should be informed by miking if necessary. The heads of educational institutions should create awareness among their students about the adverse effects of online gambling.

The writer is a  journalist and columnist. He can be reached at email - info.og@aol.com