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Mahadev betting app case: Actor Sahil Khan arrested from Chhattisgarh, sent to police custody till May 1
On Wednesday, the Bombay high court dismissed the pre-arrest bail plea filed by Khan.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch has arrested actor and fitness influencer Sahil Khan from Chhattisgarh's Jagdalpur district in the Mahadev betting app case, Lakhmi Gautam, Joint Commissioner (JCP), Mumbai Crime Branch, said on Sunday.
“He had been on the run for 40 hours, from Goa to Karnataka, then Hyderabad, and finally caught in Jagdalpur. We will produce him before a local court,” the officer told Hindustan Times.
Also Read: Chhattisgarh EOW, ACB register fresh case in alleged Mahadev betting app scam
Actor Sahil Khan was produced in a court at Dadar which remanded him to police custody till May 1.
The development comes days after the Bombay high court dismissed the pre-arrest bail plea filed by Khan. The high court stated that he was "directly connected with the online betting application.”
The “Style” actor, who is one of several accused named in the FIR, which was transferred to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) for investigation, had argued in his petition that as a celebrity, he “merely acted as a brand promoter”, relying on an Influencer Engagement Agreement dated February 21, 2022, with M/s. Isports247, a sports management company, for promotion of the brand ‘The Lion Book’.
A single-judge bench of Justice SV Kotwal, however, disagreed.
“The entire operation is illegal. A huge amount is involved. Fictitious bank accounts are created. Different fake SIM cards are used in big numbers. The applicant is directly connected with the App ‘The Lion Book247,” Justice Kotwal said in his order, dismissing the plea.
Also Read: ED raids 15 locations across Delhi NCR, WB, Mumbai in Mahadev betting app probe
The bench also noted that EOW's investigation had revealed that there were as many as 67 betting websites, with each being controlled from “foreign destinations."
“The probe found that more than 2,000 bogus SIM cards, obtained on bogus documents, were used to lure gullible people to place bets on various games. Over 1,700 bank accounts opened using fake documents were used to collect and withdraw money, which was subsequently routed through Hawala channels and cryptocurrency,” it added.
The FIR was originally registered by the Matunga Police in November 2023, based on a complaint lodged by social activist Prakash Bankar, who alleged that several web portals were designed for online betting/gambling on cricket, football, tennis, and card games like “teen patti” etc.
