Betting scam: Mahadev App promotor detained in Dubai, likely to be deported to India soon
PTC News Desk: One of the two main owners of the Mahadev online betting app, Ravi Uppal, was detained in Dubai by local police on the basis of a red notice issued by Interpol at the behest of the ED.
Uppal, 43, was detained in that country last week, and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is in contact with Dubai authorities to have him deported to India, they said.
Apart from the Chhattisgarh Police and the Mumbai Police, Uppal is being investigated by the ED in a money laundering case related to alleged illegal betting.
In October, the investigation agency filed a money laundering chargesheet against Uppal and another promoter of the Internet-based platform, Sourabh Chandrakar, before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
Interpol subsequently issued a red notice in response to ED's request.
In the charge sheet, the agency informed the court that Uppal had obtained a passport from Vanuatu, an island country in the Pacific Ocean, despite the fact that he had not renounced his Indian citizenship.
In the prosecution complaint, the ED stated that Uppal "generated and enjoyed proceeds of crime and is involved in their concealment and layering." Uppal was accused of "looking after the delivery of the liaison money to the bureaucrats and politicians of Chhattisgarh through Chandrabhushan Verma," an assistant sub-inspector of police, and others.
According to the ED, the estimated proceeds of crime in this case are around 6,000 crore.
In November, just before the first phase of the Chhattisgarh assembly elections, the agency claimed that forensic analysis and a statement made by a 'cash courier' named Asim Das had led to "startling allegations." According to the agency, Das claimed that Mahadev betting app promoters had paid about 508 crore to former Chhattisgarh chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel so far, adding that these allegations were "subject matter of investigation."
Das later testified before a Raipur special court that he had been framed as part of a conspiracy and had never delivered cash to politicians.
- With inputs from agencies
