In a major development in the Mahadev Betting App case, Dubai Police has arrested Ravi Uppal, one of the two promoters of the app. The promoter was detained after Interpol issued a Red Corner Notice against him on the request of the Enforcement Directorate, which is investigating a money laundering case against him.
According to reports, Uppal was arrested in Dubai last week. He can be sent to India soon after the extradition formalities are completed.
Another promoter of the betting app, Saurabh Chandrakar, whose Rs 200 crore cash wedding caught the attention of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), is still absconding and efforts are on to nab him.
The Mahadev betting app issue had recently created a massive controversy during the Chhattisgarh assembly elections, when the ED had claimed that a cash courier arrested had revealed that the then state Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had used it for the election campaign. More than Rs 500 crore was paid.
However, when the cash courier, identified as Aseem Das, was produced in the court, he rejected the claims of the investigating agency and said that he was tricked into signing a statement in English – A language he did not understand.
Das alleged that he was being framed and that he never delivered cash to any politician.
According to the ED, Uppal and Chandrakar, residents of Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, ran Mahadev betting app and several of its subsidiaries from Dubai. These apps generated transactions worth thousands of crores of rupees daily and the promoters reportedly earned around Rs 200 crore per day.
The central probe agency also claimed that several police officers, bureaucrats and politicians were on the payroll of Uppal and Chandrakar to ensure that the betting app remained off the radar of the probe agencies.