Bengaluru: The Union Home Ministry is yet to decide on the state government’s request for a CBI probe into the multi-crore single digit lottery scandal, in which several senior police officers are said to be involved.

The Home Department speaking to a daily said that the state government has already written a letter to the ministry, seeking an investigation into the scam, as its tentacles have spread across two or three states.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced a CBI probe into the scam in the third week of May and shot off an official letter to the ministry. The government has already suspended senior IPS officer Alok Kumar, based on a preliminary inquiry conducted by Criminal Investigation Department.

However the sources said that it is now left to the premier investigating agency to express whether it is interested in conducting the probe, or not and the State government cannot force them to do so.

Earlier Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said that, “Though we entrusted the CID to probe the lottery scam and received an interim report on it, we have decided to order a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry to unearth in the truth and expose those involved in it in this and neighbouring states.”

Currently the case is with CID, it may be recalled that the state government suspended Bengaluru additional commissioner of police Alok Kumar on May 24 after the CID interim report named him as one of the senior police officers who were regularly in touch with lottery scamster Peri Rajan. Rajan, 58, was arrested on April 30 at Kolar and shifted to the central jail here for interrogation.

The CID also suspended superintendent of police in the lottery excise and enforcement cell Daranesh for his alleged nexus with Rajan and others. The CID probed the scam after a Kannada news channel telecast a sting operation early this month on Rajan boasting “high connections with top police officials.