Sourabh Chandrakar, the mastermind of the ₹6,000 crore Mahadev online gambling racket, has been detained in Oman, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, adding that India is in the process of sending an extradition request to Muscat.
While Indian law enforcement agencies are trying to ascertain the details of his capture through formal channels, officials who didn’t want to be named said Chandrakar, whose last location was in the UAE, was taken into custody by Royal Oman police based on an Interpol notice issued at the request of Indian agencies.
Initial information suggests that Chandrakar was travelling to Oman on a fake passport obtained from a Southeast Asian country.
India and Oman have an extradition treaty and officials in New Delhi are hopeful that Chandrakar, wanted since 2019, may finally be repatriated to India.
Extradition requests to the UAE did not fructify even though he was once detained in Dubai in 2024; he was subsequently released.
Chandrakar, who is believed to be in his early 30s, set-up the Mahadev betting empire along with co-founder Ravi Uppal. The duo fled to Dubai sometime in 2019 and their network still allegedly runs betting apps and websites from there.
Based on an Interpol red notice, UAE authorities briefly detained Sourabh Chandrakar in October 2024 and kept him under house arrest. The same month, India sent an extradition request for him which was not executed, “thereby making it infructuous”.
{{/usCountry}}Based on an Interpol red notice, UAE authorities briefly detained Sourabh Chandrakar in October 2024 and kept him under house arrest. The same month, India sent an extradition request for him which was not executed, “thereby making it infructuous”.
{{/usCountry}}As exclusively reported by HT in November 4, 2025, Ravi Uppal went missing from the UAE after authorities in the country decided to close extradition proceedings against him.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Chhattisgarh police are also investigating Mahadev founders along with several public servants in Raipur. The illegal betting operations, still running across India despite the government banning multiple platforms and apps linked to Mahadev, allows people to place illegal bets on poker and other card games, games of chance , cricket, badminton, tennis and football matches, even election outcomes.
ED has claimed in one of its charge sheets in the case that the “betting empire” was operating at least 3,200 (betting) panels in different cities, generating around ₹240 crore per day.
The duo, Chandrakar and Uppal , rented 20 villas in Dubai to accommodate their staff of 3,500. Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel is also named as accused in the investigation. He has consistently denied his involvement.