The government of Kerala vows to come down heavily on the “unauthorized” move to sell the Mizoram lottery in the state.

On Friday, Kerala Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac told reporters that “selling of lottery tickets of Mizoram in the state is illegal,” noting that Mizoram has yet to receive permission to do so.

In fact, Isaac said the Kerala government only learned about the move to promote the Mizoram lottery “through a newspaper advertisement.”

“There has been no intimation from the Mizoram government as mandated by the Central law. The police will be asked to investigate and identify the elements behind the operation. Criminal procedures will be initiated against the perpetrators and tickets of unauthorized lotteries will be confiscated,” Isaac said, according to The Hindu.