Photo: Collected
A few clicks on a mobile phone screen, along with the lure of winning a large sum of money. By showing this dream of getting rich quickly, online gambling is spreading in Meherpur. People from different classes and professions, starting from young men and women, are getting caught in this dreadful trap. While online gambling agents have become owners of crores of taka overnight, ordinary people are being left destitute.
An organised network has grown up in Meherpur around this trade. It is alleged that a ring of local agents and middlemen has long been working for various online gambling platforms under the patronage of different political leaders. There are also allegations that Monalisa, wife of the former public administration minister, several influential leaders of the fallen Awami League and several officials of the administration are involved with online gambling. However, these allegations could not be independently verified.
Although small-time online gambling agents have been detained at different times, the masterminds remain beyond reach. For this reason, even though agents change, the menace of online gambling is not stopping.
Many, having got involved in this gambling in the hope of getting money in a few clicks, are ultimately losing everything. Some have lost their business capital, some are carrying a burden of debt after losing their jobs. Others have not been able to get back on their feet even after selling their property and assets. As a result, alongside economic disaster, unrest is also appearing in families; marital discord and separation are on the rise. There are allegations that incidents of extreme consequences are also occurring out of debt pressure and despair.
Locals allege that this trade will not stop unless the masterminds of online gambling are identified through an impartial investigation, detained and brought to trial.
Muha Abdullah Al Amin Dhumketu, vice-principal of Meherpur Government Women’s College, said, ‘Meherpur is considered a paradise for online gambling. A severe social and economic disaster has descended after falling into its trap.’
Locals further allege that although agents are occasionally arrested in drives by law enforcement agencies, the masterminds remain beyond reach. After being arrested and sent to jail, many come out on bail and get involved in the same activities again. As a result, while cases and arrests continue on the one hand, the ring’s activities also continue from behind the scenes on the other.
Police data say five cases were filed in Meherpur under laws related to online gambling from 2024 to May 2026. Sixty-three people have been made accused in these cases. Fifteen people have been detained up to August this year.
Meherpur Superintendent of Police Ujjwal Kumar Das said police drives are continuing over incidents related to online gambling and legal action is being taken in this regard.
However, locals ask whether this trade worth crores of taka can be stopped just by arresting the agents. Who are the masterminds behind the scenes, where is this network being run from, and where is the flow of money going – the answers to these questions are still unknown.
The people of Meherpur expect that not the field-level agents but the masterminds behind this profit empire of online gambling will be identified and brought to book. Only then, perhaps, will this trade of showing dreams in a few clicks and snatching away everything come to a stop.
