A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA in Gujarat Kesarsinh Solanki and 25 others were sentenced to two years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) on Wednesday in connection to a gambling case by a court in Gujarat’s Panchmahals district.

They were arrested from a resort in a police raid on July 1, 2021 where Solanki and others were found gambling at a resort near Shivrajpur village in Panchmahals district.

The cops, who raided the resort on a tip, found the accused gambling in five rooms. The group included seven women who were called to work as dealers on the gambling tables. People involved in the gambling included those from Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Surat, Vadodara and Amreli.

In its 91-page order, the court also imposed a fine of ₹3,000 each.

In all, the police team seized ₹3.9 lakh, eight vehicles, 25 mobile phones, and a laptop that were valued at ₹1.15 crore. The police filed a charge sheet under sections 4 and 5 of the Public Gambling Act.

The court also ordered the cancellation of the license of the resort where gambling was organised for violating norms.

Solanki, who represents Matar constituency, won the seat in a by-election in 2014 and retained the seat in the 2017 assembly elections.

(With inputs from agencies)