An illegal gambling racket built on the winning numbers of the state lottery boards has grown into a social crisis second in severity only to drug abuse, National Lotteries Board (NLB) Chairman Cyril Anthony Perera has told the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE).
Perera raised the issue when officials of the NLB and the Development Lotteries Board were summoned before the committee.
How the racket works
Under the scheme, known as Kotu Kepima, bettors select two numbers between 0 and 9 and stake money on the final two digits of the lottery number drawn that day. Although both boards hold their draws at around 7.30 p.m., operators run the betting through WhatsApp groups and spread false claims that the month’s draws are conducted in advance and released daily, Perera said.
The practice began in villages around four to five years ago with stakes of about Rs. 100, but has since expanded sharply. In some higher-income areas the value of a single betting box has reportedly risen to as much as Rs. 100,000.
Stakes track local economic activity. In paddy-farming areas such as Manampitiya, bets on a single number combination can reach Rs. 30,000, while in the gem-mining district of Ratnapura they can exceed Rs. 100,000.
Complaints to police went nowhere
Perera said the racket had driven many people to lose their land and other property, leaving them in severe financial difficulty, and that the NLB had received repeated complaints from women affected by their husbands’ addiction to the betting.
Complaints had previously been lodged with the Inspector General of Police, the State Intelligence Service and several other law enforcement bodies, he said, but no effective action had followed.
The chairman warned that the continued spread of the operation threatens both the financial sustainability of the country’s lottery boards and the livelihoods of ordinary people.
