Mahadev Betting Case: Custody Sought for Saurabh Chandrakar

According to a report by Hindustan Times, it is very necessary to interrogate Saurabh Chandrakar, considered the main mastermind of the six thousand crore rupee Mahadev online betting syndicate, in custody so that police and administrative officials of Chhattisgarh who took large sums of money to keep these illegal activities running can be identified. The Central Bureau of Investigation made this submission in a special court in Raipur. The CBI stated that Chandrakar, other promoters, and associates had regularly paid money to secure protection from police, administrative officials, and influential politicians.

Raipur's special court on Wednesday granted the CBI custody of Chandrakar for this day. The agency has been permitted to take Chandrakar, who was extradited from Oman on 1 November, to Delhi for interrogation. The CBI stated that custodial interrogation is essential to identify other main masterminds and beneficiaries of this alleged fraud, to find out through which channels the money obtained from the crime was sent abroad, and to locate assets created from illegal earnings.

The agency stated that hawala operators were used to arrange and distribute the money for protection. Police officers and employees were also involved in delivering this money to police and administrative officials. The investigation has revealed that Chandrakar, Ravi Uppal, and their associates promoted the Mahadev Book app and operated online betting activities through a vast network of panel and branch operators.

Promoters kept 70 to 80 percent of the illegal earnings for themselves, while the remaining amount was distributed among panel operators. The CBI has claimed that since the Covid-2020 lockdown, Chandrakar and other promoters were earning approximately 450 crore rupees per month through online betting. The accused arranged hundreds of bank accounts using forged documents to facilitate transactions involving the proceeds of crime.

These accounts were operated on a commission basis, while the betting income was transferred to Chandrakar and other promoters in the UAE by panel operators through multiple bank accounts. A significant portion of the illegal earnings was also spent on advertising betting websites and grand annual events featuring the presence of celebrities. The agency has claimed that celebrities were paid from the income generated from online betting.

The CBI has alleged that police, administrative officials, and influential political figures misused their positions to obtain illegal financial benefits and subsequently acquired assets from such earnings. Chandrakar and other promoters operated the Mahadev Book syndicate from Dubai, which they considered their main office. According to the agency, several youths from Chhattisgarh were employed as managers, supervisors, and other staff to run the betting operations.

According to the CBI, Chandrakar left India in 2022 to escape the legal process and deliberately stayed abroad without joining the investigation. After his extradition from Oman, he was brought to Raipur by private plane on Tuesday evening to be produced in the trial court. In this case, which emerged during the previous Congress government led by Bhupesh Baghel in Chhattisgarh, a separate money laundering investigation is being conducted by the Enforcement Directorate. After the BJP government came to power, the state's Economic Offences Wing registered an FIR in March 2024 based on the ED's report, filing a case under the provisions of the criminal conspiracy, fraud, and Prevention of Corruption Act.