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Raipur: Chhattisgarh Government has recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the cases linked to the alleged multi-crore Mahadev Online Betting App or Mahadev app scam in which crime of proceed worth Rs 6000 crore were generated illegally as estimated by Enforcement Directorate (ED).
According to the inputs available, the government has issued a notification for the same transferring over 70 cases linked to the alleged scam to the CBI including the one filed by Economic Offence Wing (EOW) in March this year in which the agency has named former Chief Minister of the state, Bhupesh Baghel.
Interacting with the media, deputy Chief Minister of the state, Vijay Sharma who also oversee the home portfolio on Monday, August 26 informed that around 70 cases related to the Mahadev app including the one filed by EOW have been handed over to the CBI.
There were some rumours in the state for quite some time, further the scam has also crossed the state’s boundaries to impact other states as well, a few of the handlers are heard to be in other countries, hence we have decided to hand over the case to CBI. A notification about the same has been issued, the agency will thoroughly investigate the cases and those hiding in the foreign land will also be extradited to India, said Sharma.
The Mahadev Book Online Betting Platform and ED’s investigation
Notably, according to the findings of the probe done by ED, 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. The application reportedly generated an amount close to Rs 200 crores daily, leading to speculation of accumulation of thousands of crores (around Rs 6000 crore) by the app promoters.
The ED began its probe into the matter 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 last 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.
The investigation has revealed that Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, who hail from Bhilai in Chhattisgarh, are the two main promoters of the Mahadev betting platform. The probe by the central agency has further uncovered alleged Hawala transactions in UAE and Pakistan.
ED arrested ASI Chnadrabhushan Verma of Chhattisgarh police along with Hawala operators Satish Chandrakar, Anil and Sunil Dammani under the PMLA act in August 2023. The agency also conducted raids at 39 locations across Raipur, Bhopal, Mumbai and Kolkata and seized illegal assets worth Rs 417 crore in September last year.
According to the reports, the ED during the course of the investigation, has so far seized Rs 572.41 crore during multiple raids conducted by the agency across separate states. Meanwhile, the economic intelligence agency has also attached properties worth 142 crores in connection with the case. The ED has filed two chargesheets into the case, including a supplementary chargesheet, which was filed before the court in January this year.
It is to be noted that earlier, Ravi Uppal, one of the prime accused of the Mahadev betting app scam, was detained by authorities in Dubai in December last year. A couple of weeks after Uppal’s arrest it was reported that the other prime accused, Saurabh Chandrakar, was also put under movement restriction by the authorities in UAE. It is being speculated that after taking over the cases the CBI may approach the UAE authorities for their extradition to India.
EOW/ACB and ED probe into the matter and recent developments
Notably, EOW began a probe into the matter after registering a fresh FIR (First Information Report) based on ED’s finding in March this year. The anti-corruption bureau in the FIR filed had named former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel along key accused, Saurabh Chandrakar, Ravi Uppal, Subham Soni, Anil Agarwal and others.
After filing a fresh case into the matter, the sleuths of the agency raided multiple locations across states leading to arrest of many key accused in the case including Arjun Yadav, Sahdeo Yadav both accused and dismissed personnel of Chhattisgarh police, Rahul Wakte and Ritesh Yadav both panel operators of the Mahadev app and Kishan Lal Verma, a close associate of the jailed ASI Chandrabhushan Verma another key accused in the case.
It is to be noted that other than the aforementioned accused a number of other individuals have also been arrested by the agencies in connection with the case. This includes Nitish Deewan, Satish Chandrakar, Suraj Chowkhani, Girish Talreja, Bhim Singh Yadav, Asim Das and others who have currently lodging in jail in judicial remand.
It is worth mentioning here that other than the ED and EOW, the state police of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh are also investigating separate cases linked to the multi-crore scam which have led to nabbing of a number of panel operators and other accused associated with the main promoters of the app. Further a number of Bollywood celebrities’ associations with the app promoters are also under the scrutiny of the investigative agencies and the police.
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