Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to ban all platforms – including APKs, Telegram channels, Instagram accounts and URLs-- linked to the "illegal business of online betting".
In a two-page letter addressed to the prime minister, Baghel said that illegal betting is now growing into a nationwide business that is being run by certain individuals from abroad.
"A complete ban should be imposed on the platforms, web, APK, Telegram, Instagram, URL etc. related to the illegal business of online betting," he wrote in the letter.
While sharing the letter on X, Chhattisgarh CM said, “By writing a letter to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, I demanded a complete ban on the platforms, web, APK, Telegram, Instagram, URL related to the illegal business of online betting.”
"In the past, illegal gambling and betting business has expanded nationwide through online betting and gaming and its operators and owners have been running the said illegal business from abroad," he added.
{{/usCountry}}"In the past, illegal gambling and betting business has expanded nationwide through online betting and gaming and its operators and owners have been running the said illegal business from abroad," he added.
{{/usCountry}}Baghel also mentioned the actions taken by the state police in cases linked with online betting apps. He said that the police have registered over 90 criminal cases linked with online betting since March 2022. It has also arrested 450 accused, froze ₹16 crore in bank accounts and seized several laptops and mobile phones.
The letter comes weeks after it was alleged that Baghel had received ₹508 crore from the 'Mahadev' app promoters based in the UAE. The BJP also released a video of a man claiming he was the owner of the Mahadev app and had the "proof" of paying ₹508 crore to CM Baghel.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing the Mahadev Book Online Betting app syndicate, in which the promoters of the app allegedly run thousands of panels across India with the help of their friends and associates from abroad.
The probe agency had received an intelligence input last month that a large amount of cash is being moved in Chhattisgarh by the promoters of the app amid the assembly elections.
The ED has arrested four accused persons, seized proceeds of crime worth more than ₹450 crore, and filed a prosecution complaint against 14 accused persons.