Itanagar: There will be little cheer for gamblers rolling dice in the high stakes game of ‘jhandi munda' this Diwali in Arunachal Pradesh, which has been legal till last year, but banned this time around.
During the Festival of Lights the game is played with numbered dice at betting kiosks which are choc-a-bloc with people waiting to try their luck at roadside kiosks.
There are six icons on the six sides of the dice with the icon turning up the most being the winning one.
Arunachal Pradesh is perhaps the only Indian state where gambling has been legal under the Public Gambling Act, enacted in 1867.
But this Diwali, the state government, has banned issue of licences for setting up betting kiosks.
Permits valid for only three days during Diwali to host a betting kiosk cost around 12,000 rupees.
