Mahadev Betting app case: Court rejects Sahil Khan’s pre-arrest bail plea

While rejecting Khan’s pre-arrest bail, the additional sessions judge Dr Abhay Joglekar observed that the crime had generated an itching impact on the youth considering that the alleged fraud involved siphoning of ₹15,000 crore

MUMBAI: Hours after the news of Ravi Uppal, one of the main accused in the Mahadev Online Betting (MOB) app case being detained in Dubai surfaced, the sessions court on Wednesday rejected the anticipatory bail of Bollywood actor turned fitness entrepreneur Sahil Khan, who had approached the court on Tuesday after he was named as an accused in a separate case.

Sahil Khan

The Mahadev betting app enabled illegal gambling on various games, such as poker, card games, cricket, football, and badminton. It was run by Dubai-based Saurabh Chandrakar, a former juice seller, and Uppal. Khan was named as one of the accused last month for endorsing and promoting the app.

Subsequently, a case was registered at Matunga Police Station along with 32 others including Chandrakar and Upal, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Gambling Act, and the IT Act. The FIR was based on a complaint lodged by social activist Prakash Bankar against the Khiladi app, a subsidiary of the main Mahadev app.

While rejecting Khan’s pre-arrest bail, the additional sessions judge Dr Abhay Joglekar observed that the crime had generated an itching impact on the youth considering that the alleged fraud involved siphoning of ₹15,000 crore.

“The wanted accused are residents of different states and are working under a syndicate. The crime has expanded to an international level and has connections with such antisocial elements. Undoubtedly, the applicant (Khan) has not specifically denied his acquaintance with the portal. The applicant has also promoted several such advertisements urging others to use the app,” the court said.

Advocate Rajiv Chavan, representing Khan, submitted that the applicant was not involved in any illegal activity. “Considering the FIR, no specific allegation or role is attributed to the applicant. Therefore, at this juncture custodial interrogation is not necessary,” he added.

The court further noted that the applicant was promoting unauthorized sites and around 67 such sites were being used for cheating individuals. “Deposit and withdrawal of the amount took place through more than 2000 bogus sim cards and this amount was managed through more than 1700 fake accounts,” the court order stated.

Chavan reminded the court that Khan was a fitness entrepreneur and that he was a brand ambassador for several brands. Denying Khan’s affiliation with such portals, he added that advertisements on Khan’s Instagram account where Khan claims to be the partner of the portal are only for promotion.

Public prosecutor Abhijit Gondwal alleged a partnership between Khan and members of a larger syndicate, stating that the Khan had links to the underworld criminals. The prosecution further submitted that considering the criminal antecedents of Khan, he might tamper with the evidence or abscond and delay the trial.

The applicant was not only a member of a larger syndicate but also an alleged owner of such a betting portal and hence, his presence will be required, submitted by the prosecution.

The court noted that the accused persons have conspired using various platforms like Mahadev, Ready Anna, Fair Play, Laser Book, Tiger Exchange , and Lotus 365.

The Mahadev Betting app case is simultaneously being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and has several Bollywood actors on its radar.

The Mumbai crime branch is likely to summon Khan in connection with the MOB betting app. “This is a legal process as Khan’s anticipatory has been rejected by the session court, so we will soon summon him to join the probe”, said a senior officer of the crime branch.