MOB app case: Crime Branch summons actor Sahil Khan, his brother and two others

The four will have to appear before the special investigation team (SIT) set up by the Crime Branch on Friday to record their statements. Amit Sharma was summoned to appear on Thursday, but he did not come and did not communicate with any officer either

MUMBAI: The Crime Branch has summoned four people, including Bollywood actor-turned-fitness entrepreneur Sahil Khan, his brother Sam Khan, Amit Sharma and Hitesh Khusalani in connection with the cheating case registered against the Mahadev Online Betting (MOB) app and its promoters.

Sahil Khan

The four will have to appear before the special investigation team (SIT) set up by the Crime Branch on Friday to record their statements. Amit Sharma was summoned to appear on Thursday, but he did not come and did not communicate with any officer either.

The sessions court on Wednesday had rejected the anticipatory bail plea of actor Khan. On the same day, Ravi Uppal, one of the chief accused in the case, was detained in Dubai by local authorities.

The SIT comprises four officers from the North region cyber police station, crime intelligence unit, and anti-extortion cell. The team will be headed by police inspector Mangesh Desai from the North region cyber police station, with a police inspector, an assistant police inspector and a sub-inspector assisting him.

The MOB betting app enabled illegal gambling in 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 for allegedly endorsing and promoting the app.

“We have been scrutinising all the data and scanned around 150 bank accounts out of a total of more than 950 used in the Mahadev betting app to dupe people,” said a police officer. “We found around 55 bank accounts were already closed by the time complaints were received on the cyber helpline number.”

Subsequently, a case was registered at Matunga Police Station against 32 people, including Chandrakar and Uppal, 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, additional sessions judge Dr Abhay Joglekar observed that the crime had generated “an itching impact on the youth”, given that the alleged fraud involved a siphoning-off of ₹15,000 crore. “The applicant has also promoted several such advertisements, urging others to use the app,” the court said on Wednesday.

Advocate Rajiv Chavan, representing Khan, submitted that the applicant was not involved in any illegal activity. “He is a fitness entrepreneur and a brand ambassador for several companies,” he said. Denying Khan’s affiliation with gambling portals, Chavan added that the advertisements on Khan’s Instagram account, where Khan claims to be a partner in the portal, were only for promotional purposes.