Saurabh Chandrakar, one of the primary accused in a money laundering and fraud case linked with Rs 6,000-crore Mahadev app betting is expected to be extradited to India after his formal arrest in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following an Interpol red notice.
Chandrakar and his other business partner and another promoter of the app, Ravi Uppal were put into house detention in Dubai in December 2023. The extradition process – greenlit by UAE authorities after the External Affairs Ministry intervened on behalf of the probe agency – is in the final stages, news agency PTI reported citing official sources.
The ED has alleged that its probe in the Mahadev Online Book gaming and betting app has shown involvement of various high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh, the state where Chandrakar and Uppal hail from.
Who is Saurabh Chandrakar?
Chandrakar started with a juice shop in Chhattisgarh’s Bhilai before teaming up with Uppal to run the Mahadev betting app. The two became addicted to online gambling which prompted them to gather their savings for a gambling spree in Dubai. Once there they met a sheikh and a Pakistani national, they started their app. They moved to Dubai in 2019, NTDV reported.
According to the ED, Chandrakar and Uppal ran the Mahadev network – which allegedly included a nexus of police, bureaucrats, and politicians to shield the illegal activities – from Dubai.
Call centres were opened across Malaysia, Thailand, and India, and also in the UAE, through which illegal betting was conducted by creating an entire ecosystem of interlinked mobile apps.
The company allegedly gained around Rs 6,000 crore through the scam.
It was claimed that Chandrakar allegedly spent around Rs 200 crore “in cash” on his lavish wedding in UAE’s Ras Al Khaimah in February last year. Private jets were used to transport his relatives from India to the UAE, and several Bollywood celebrities were paid to perform at the event.
What is Mahadev App case?
The company reportedly offered online platforms for alleged illegal betting in different live games including cricket, tennis, badminton, poker and card games. These have been operational for the past four years.
The application was an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites. The online application enrolled new users and allegedly laundered money through a layered web of Benami bank accounts. The games, the lotteries and betting options allegedly were all rigged where the ‘players’ always lost money and the company gained.
The ED claimed that illegal funds generated from the app were distributed as bribes to politicians and bureaucrats, and several celebrities have been summoned for questioning regarding their involvement with the betting platform.
The Mahadev betting app dragnet has also hauled in Bollywood celebrities, among the most notable of whom is actor Ranbir Kapoor, who was accused of promoting a subsidiary app. Actor Sahil Khan was arrested in connection with this case. He got bail in July.
The ED has arrested a total of 11 people in this case till now. Two charge sheets have also been filed by the agency till now, including against the two promoters.
(With inputs from agencies)
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