ED Arrests Mahadev Betting App Promoter Chandrakar

Officials said Chandrakar, 31, was remanded to ED custody until November 19 by a special PMLA court presided over by judge Amit Rathore.

A special CBI court in Raipur had on November 12 sent Chandrakar to judicial custody until November 19 following his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Chandrakar was brought to Delhi from Oman on November 1 after a court there allowed his extradition to India on October 8 in connection with money laundering, corruption and cheating cases being investigated by the two central agencies.

"In ED custody, Saurabh Chandrakar will be confronted with the statements of his associates, digital data and documents concerning his foreign entities and evidence of commission of offence of money laundering," the ED said in a statement.

The agency reiterated its allegation that Chandrakar's wedding at Ras Al Khaimah in February 2023 involved cash expenditure of nearly ₹200 crore, including arrangements for three chartered aircraft to fly guests from Nagpur.

"ED traced that money through the event company, hotels and angadia firms, and the guest list it recovered identified the management of the syndicate," the agency said.

According to the ED, the Mahadev app, also known as Mahadev Online Book (MOB), began operations in 2019-20. Its user base expanded sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and continued to grow thereafter.

The app allegedly operated through thousands of betting panels and generated proceeds of crime estimated at ₹80,000 crore since 2019.

The ED said the Omani court rejected Chandrakar's plea concerning his citizenship after the Indian embassy confirmed that he was an Indian national. Records also showed that he was apprehended at Muscat International Airport while attempting to travel on a forged document, the agency claimed.

The ED has described Chandrakar as the "principal promoter, collector and beneficiary" of the Mahadev betting app and named him as accused No. 1 in its October 2023 chargesheet.

It has also alleged that the app's operators, including co-promoter Ravi Uppal, had a "nexus" with senior politicians and bureaucrats in Chhattisgarh.

Officials said Chandrakar had worked at a juice shop run by his family's company in Bhilai, in Chhattisgarh's Durg district, until December 2020. Within the next two years, he allegedly established a Dubai-based betting operation employing thousands of people.

In the money laundering case registered in October 2022, the ED has arrested 15 people, attached assets worth ₹1,885 crore, named 116 accused in six chargesheets and conducted searches at 190 premises across the country.

The investigation is based on FIRs and chargesheets filed by the Chhattisgarh police and the CBI.