Ravi Uppal, one of the prime accused of the Mahadev betting app scam, has been detained by authorities in Dubai, confirmed sources familiar with the development. Ravi was detained by the Dubai police last week, and the sleuths of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are in touch with the UAE authorities for his extradition to Bharat.
According to the reports, the Dubai police were in search of the Chhattisgarh-based accused after the Interpol, an intergovernmental organisation, issued a red corner notice against Uppal and his associate Saurabh Chandrakar, the other prime accused in the Mahadev betting scam case, on the request of ED officials.
It’s been learned that soon after the arrest of Uppal, Dubai authorities informed the development that the Indian official and the accused in the alleged Rs 5000 crore Mahadev betting scam may soon be deported to India, which will further help the agencies in busting the apparatus pertaining to the scam.
It’s been further reported that after the arrest of Uppal, the other prime accused, Saurabh Chandrakar, may soon be arrested by the authorities, given the reports of the latter being in hiding somewhere in the UAE itself.
Arrest of Asim Das
The arrest of Uppal occurred a month after the ED nabbed an alleged cash courier, Asim Das and constable Bheem Singh from Raipur on November 3, allegedly seizing a whopping Rs 5 crore from the possession of the accused. Later on, the economic intelligence agency claimed that Asim, during the course of interrogation, confessed that he was sent by the promoters of the Mahadev app to deliver cash to a politician named ‘baghel’ for upcoming election expenses in the state of Chhattisgarh.
ED has conducted searches against the money laundering networks linked with Mahadev APP in cities like Kolkata, Bhopal, Mumbai etc and retrieved large amount of incriminating evidences and has frozen/seized proceeds of crime worth Rs 417 Crore. pic.twitter.com/GXHWCmKOuY
— ED (@dir_ed) September 15, 2023
The federal agency, after the arrest of Asim, had also frozen around Rs 15 crore from some unnamed accounts linked to the banned app promoters. Though days after his alleged confession, the accused, Asim Das, claimed in a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PLMA) court that he had been framed as part of conspiracy and he never delivered cash to the politician. Shockingly, a month after his arrest Asim’s father, Sushil Das, was found in a well in Durg district on December 7.
Video released by Shubham Soni
Earlier in a video release, a person named Subham Soni claimed that he is the real owner of the Mahadev book online betting platform, and Ravi Uppal and Saurabh Chandrakar are his personal advisors. In the video released, which was later also shared by the state BJP unit of Chhattisgarh Subham can be heared saying that he paid a hefty sum of amount (Rs 508crore) to the then Chief Minister, Bhupesh Baghel who had earlier advised him to operate his business from Dubai.
"मैं हूं महादेव बेटिंग ऐप का मालिक, भूपेश बघेल के कहने पर दुबई गया और मैंने अब तक 508 करोड़ रुपये दिए हैं!"
महादेव बेटिंग एप मामले में छत्तीसगढ़ के मुख्यमंत्री भूपेश बघेल पूरी तरह लिप्त हैं। एप के मालिक शुभम सोनी ने दुबई से वीडियो जारी कर बताई सारी सच्चाई। pic.twitter.com/br5B4ODfj6
— BJP (@BJP4India) November 5, 2023
Soni had further claimed that despite paying such a huge amount, he had been implicated in this political game, and all he wants is to go back to India. “I have all the details and evidence with me about the money I gave. I want to go back to India, and I would like to ask the Indian government to help me out, I am really scared of going there,” claimed Soni.
The Mahadev Book Online Betting Platform
According to the investigation, the Mahadev betting app used an online book betting application to enrol new users, create user IDs and launder money through a string of Benami bank accounts. According to the reports, the application generated an amount close to Rs 200 crores daily, leading to the speculation of accumulation of thousands of crores (around Rs 5000 crore) by the app promoters.
As per the ED’s investigation so far Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, who hails from Bhilai in Chattisgarh, are the two main promoters of the Mahadev betting platform. The investigation in the case has reportedly also uncovered alleged Hawala transaction in UAE and Pakistan. According to the ED the duo Ravi and Chandrakar were running their operations from Dubai and had created an empire for themselves.
Investigation by Enforcement Directorate
The ED began its probe after one of the promoters of the app, Saurabh Chandrakar, arranged a lavish wedding in UAE where private jets were used by the accused to ferry the family members from Nagpur in February this year. The accused allegedly spent around 250 crores in the wedding ceremony, where a number of Bollywood stars also performed. Later on, it was revealed that the whole amount spent on the wedding was paid entirely in cash.
ED arrested ASI Chnadrabhushan Verma of Chhattisgarh police along with Hawala operators Satish Chandrakar, Anil and Sunil Dammani under the PMLA act in August this year. The agency also conducted raids at 39 locations across Raipur, Bhopal, Mumbai and Kolkata and seized illegal assets worth Rs 417 crore in September.
ED has conducted searches against the money laundering networks linked with Mahadev APP in cities like Kolkata, Bhopal, Mumbai etc and retrieved large amount of incriminating evidences and has frozen/seized proceeds of crime worth Rs 417 Crore. pic.twitter.com/GXHWCmKOuY
— ED (@dir_ed) September 15, 2023
In between, the agency also summoned a number of Bollywood actors, including Ranvir and Shraddha Kapoor, to inquire about the details of the payment made to them by the promoters. Based on the investigation, a PMLA special court at Raipur issued non-bailable warrants against the suspects, leading to the red-corner notice issued against the accused in October.
