Representative Image, courtesy: India CSR
In a significant development in the ongoing investigation of the multi-crore Mahadev Online Book betting app alleged scam, the Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh police have nabbed as many as two close aides of the promoters of Mahadev from UP’s capital Lucknow on Thursday, April 25.
Those who have been nabbed by the police are residents of Deoria and Sharvasti districts of UP and one of them is a relative of Abhishek Singh, a close aide of Mahadev app promoters, Ravi Uppal, Saurabh Chandrakar and Saurabh Soni.
Sharing the details of the arrest, STF Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Vishal Vikram Singh informed that both the accused were nabbed from Saheed Path service lane of UP’s capital.
According to the details, one of the nabbed accused, identified as Abhay Singh, is a relative of Abhishek Singh and is the head of the company in Bharat. It has been further revealed that Abhay, along with his companion Sanjeev had sent thousands of SIM cards to the masterminds of the scam stationed at Dubai. The SIM cards were later used by the promoters to create WhatsApp group and Telegram accounts.
During the course of initial interrogation, Abhay has reportedly confessed that he acquired SIM cards from poor and illiterate people from his home districts, different regions of Uttar Pradesh and other States and then got them ported to another Company. It has been further disclosed that Abhay was also tasked with corporate SIM porting, with its KYC done on the name of fake companies.
More recent development in the case
It is noteworthy that earlier, The Economic Offence Wing (EOW)/ Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) had also nabbed as many as two accused in the case from Goa and Delhi, respectively. One of the accused, identified as Rahul Wakte, was nabbed from Delhi, Wakte was allegedly involved in delivering money to ASI Chandrabhushan Verma who was earlier arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Rs 6000 crore alleged scam.
The other accused, Ritesh Yadav, was allegedly working as a panel operator of the Mahadev Online Book betting app. Yadav was reportedly involved with Verma and another accused, Satish Chandrakar. Both Yadav and Wakte were earlier produced before the court on Wednesday, from where they had been sent to the custody till April 30 of this month.
Maharashtra Cyber Cell summoned Tamannah Bhatia
In another development into the case, Bahubali fame actress Tamannah Bhatia has been asked to appear before the Maharashtra Cyber Cell on Monday, April 29, in connection with the illegal streaming of IPL matches on Fairplay app which is a subsidiary application of the Mahadev App.
Earlier, actor Sanjay Dutt was also summoned in the case on April 23, but he failed to appear and sought a fresh date. The Cyber Cell has already recorded statements of Dutt’s manager, actress Jacqueline Fernandez and singer Badshah into the case.
It should be noted that earlier, the ED had also called actor Ranvir Kapoor and Shradhha Kappor for questioning in connection with appearing in ads for the Mahadev app.
FIR against former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel
It is worth mentioning here that earlier the EOW/ACB had also registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel, and others in connection with the Mahadev Online Book App through which an estimated proceeds of crime worth Rs 6,000 crores were generated, as claimed by the ED.
The said FIR was filed against ex-Congress CM, Bhupesh Baghel along with 18 others on March 4, the other accused named in the FIR include Mahadev app promoters, Saurabh Chandrakar, Ravi Uppal, Subham Soni, and Anil Agarwal.
The FIR also includes a few bureaucrats, officers on special duty (OSDs), police officials and other unidentified individuals who have been charged under sections 120B, 420, 471 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with provisions of the prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act 2018.
The case was registered on the basis of the ED’s report which states that the Mahadev Online Book App promoters created the platform for live online betting and indulged in betting through different social media platforms.
The promoters of the app allegedly generated crores of money through the app and distributed it among panel and branch operators after keeping a lion’s share somewhere around 70 to 80 percent. The FIR has further claimed that for transaction of the illegally obtained money, bank accounts were opened and operated on the basis of fake documents by the panel and branch operators who further transferred illegal money to the promoters in UAE.
ED’s Investigation into the matter
ED is investigating a case against “Mahadev Online Book,” which is an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites to enroll new users, create user IDs, and launder money through a layered web of Benami bank accounts.
The agency initiated an investigation on the basis of First Information Reports (FIRs) registered by Chhattisgarh Police. Subsequently, other FIRs registered by Visakhapatnam Police and other states were also taken on record.
An ED investigation into the matter has revealed that “the main promoters of Mahadev Online Book are also partners and promoters in multiple such online betting books like ‘Reddy Anna’ and ‘Fairplay’.
Large-scale hawala operations are done to syphon off the proceeds of betting proceeds to off-shore accounts,” the agency said. In the course of further investigation, the ED successfully identified other major players involved with the promoters of Mahadev Online Book. The agency stated that the illicit funds generated by the app were used to bribe politicians and bureaucrats.
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