Gambling dens in the capital and the steel city are in sharp focus as police step up vigil in the run-up to Diwali Wednesday.

Not only marketplaces, residential areas and open grounds would also be on the radar of the men in uniform.

Ranchi city SP Aman Kumar said gambling was strictly prohibited and offenders would be arrested. “We have deployed adequate number of policemen and instructed them to arrest anybody found gambling,” Kumar said.

His Jamshedpur counterpart Prabhat Kumar said they were focussing more on gathering information to carry out raids in gambling dens. “The OCs of all the 17 thanas have been asked to identify and raid all the places where gambling sessions are organised,” Kumar told The Telegraph.

Gambling is socially organised on and before Diwali in several places in the steel city every year, especially business hub Jugsalai, where sums at stake run up to lakhs. Jugsalai apart, gambling is also organised in marketplaces in Sakchi, Bistupur, Kadma, Sonari and Golmuri, as well as some residential houses in Baradwari, Sonari and Sakchi.

In Ranchi, the prominent gambling dens are located in Kishoreganj, Argora, Madhukam and Paharitola.

On bursting of crackers, Kumar said, “It is banned near hospitals, educational institutions, courts and religious places even during the two-hour window given by the Supreme Court. We have instructed all our OCs to ensure that nobody flouts the order.”

Sources said some of the people who indulge in gambling on the night of Diwali do so either out of superstition or fun. Some think that gambling will bring them fortune, while most play to try their luck on the game of cards.

On the occasion of Kali Puja on Tuesday, devotees were seen flocking to prominent pandals including Sri Doranda Kali Puja Samiti at Doranda, Sri Kusai Kali Puja Samiti, Kusai Colony, Shakti Club, Kadru, Cosmos Club, Burdwan Compund, and Agradoot Club on HB Road.