At the behest of Indian agencies, the activities of Mahadev App promoter Saurabh Chandrakar have been banned in Dubai, reports said. However, he is neither arrested nor detained.
A few days ago, Ravi Uppal, one of the two main owners of the Mahadev online betting app, was also detained in Dubai by the local police on the basis of a red notice issued by the Interpol at the behest of the ED. Uppal, 43, was detained last week in that country and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) authorities are in touch with the Dubai authorities to get him deported to India, they said. The businessman is being probed by the ED in a money laundering case linked to alleged illegal betting through online apps apart from the Chhattisgarh and Mumbai Police crime branch.
The federal probe agency had filed a money laundering charge sheet against Uppal and another promoter of the Internet-based platform, Sourabh Chandrakar, before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Chhattisgarh's Raipur in October.
The projected proceeds of crime in this case is about Rs 6,000 crore, according to the ED. The agency had claimed in November, just before the first phase of Chhattisgarh assembly polls, that forensic analysis and statement made by a 'cash courier' named Asim Das have led to "startling allegations" that Mahadev betting app promoters have paid about Rs 508 crore to former Chhattisgarh chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel so far, adding these allegations were "subject matter of investigation".
