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Mahadev betting app promoters’ sprawling assets in ED focus

ByNeeraj Chauhan
Oct 13, 2024 05:26 AM IST

Chandrakar was arrested by police in Dubai and his partner Uppal is under detention at his home, and India is in the process of formally securing their extradition to prosecute them of financial crimes

Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, two of the main accused being sought for allegedly running the Mahadev betting app syndicate, have sprawling real-estate holdings across the United Arab Emirates and several other countries and have acquired passports of Vanatu, Enforcement Directorate officials have said, as they attempt to zero in on these assets and secure their extradition.

Sourabh Chandrakar (HT Photo)
Sourabh Chandrakar (HT Photo)

Chandrakar was arrested by police in Dubai and his partner Uppal is under detention at his home, and India is in the process of formally securing their extradition to prosecute them of financial crimes.

HT reported on Thursday that a Raipur court has approved the agency’s plea for sending an extradition request to the UAE and direct diplomatic channels are being used to pursue Chandrakar’s return. Efforts to arrest Uppal also are on, said this officer.

“Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal have established a betting empire (Mahadev Online Book App) and are indulging in rampant money laundering. They have acquired assets in their own name and in the name of their associates in the UAE and other foreign countries. They are living in palatial houses in UAE. They have also acquired passports of other countries like Vanuatu,” ED said in its charge sheet filed in January this year.

According to an official who asked not to be named, “their properties are being traced and efforts are on to get them seized/confiscated”. The two, the agency has determined, have secured passports from Vanuatu - a chain of 80 islands in the south pacific, the person added.

The Mahadev online betting app syndicate since functioned since July 2022 and Chandrakar and Uppal remotely run illegal betting operations, with proceeds of crimes running into several thousand crores, it has been alleged.

The service allowed people to put illegal bets on live games like poker, card games, chance games, matches of cricket, badminton, tennis and football, and even allowed access to apps to place bets on elections in India.

About the ongoing activities of Mahadev and its promoters, ED has said that the “betting empire” is operating more than 3,200 (betting) panels in different cities, which generate around 40 crore per day.

“The promoters of Mahadev Online Book had rented 20 villas in Dubai to accommodate its staff comprising 3,500 persons. The expenses in food, lodging, medicine, travel, and visa of these staff are borne by the promoters,” the agency has said in its charge sheet, about the scale of illegal betting operation.

India has good bilateral relations with the UAE, allowing it to secure the extradition or deportation of several high-profile individuals sought by law enforcement. Aviation industry middleman Deepak Talwar, AgustaWestland scam accused Rajiv Saxena and British national Christian Michel, also sought in the AgustaWestland case, are among such people.

ED has said the operations of the Mahadev app were being run from Dubai by franchising “panels or branches” on a 70:30 profit ratio. The projected proceeds of crime in the case are about 6,000 crore, according to ED, which has so far frozen assets worth 572.41 crore and arrested 11 people.

In August, HT reported that CBI was also brought on board to probe the case.

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