New Delhi:

Even as Indian authorities prepare to likely receive Saurabh Chandrakar, one of the main promoters of the Mahadev betting app, sources told NDTV how the money was moved around, the extent of the nexus involved in the operation of the app and the titular role of two Chhattisgarh-based brothers.

According to sources, Chandrakar’s formal arrest in the Dubai was based on an Interpol-issued arrest warrant in a money laundering and fraud case. Chandrakar along with another promoter of the app, Ravi Uppal was detained and put under “house arrest” in Dubai late last year following the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) request for issuance of a Red Notice (RN) against them.

Chandrakar and co-promoter Ravil Uppal hailed from Chhattisgarh’s Bhilai, but operated the Mahadev betting app from Dubai. When he lived in his hometown, the former ran a juice shop. He is said to have left for Dubai in 2019.

After starting the app, the duo opened call centres in major cities of Malaysia, Thailand, UAE and India through which various subsidiary apps were made to facilitate online betting. In Chhattisgarh and other states of India, around 30 call centres were being operated with the help of two persons, identified as Sunil Damani and Anil Damani, both close aides of Chandrakar and Uppal.

The ED has claimed the network consisted of around 4,000 ‘panel operators’, based across different states in India, with handling around 200 customers placing bets. Using this method, the two made at least ₹ 200 crore daily, and managed to build a criminal empire in the UAE.

Investigation by the ED found that thousand of crores were swindled through the betting and other interlinked apps, according to sources.

The money trail of a deep-running nexus

Chandrakar and Uppal, along with the police, bureaucrats and politicians operated a nexus to run the app and manage its proceeds in India.

With help from the Damanis, a large number of benami bank accounts were opened. Anil Damani was entrusted with rerouting the money obtained through hawala to pay the police, politicians and bureaucrats to avoid coming under the scanner. 

Money was also sent to Chandra Bhushan Verma, an Assistant Sub Inspector with Chhattisgarh Police, for the same purpose. He was in direct contact with Vinod Verma, the political advisor of then Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, with whose support he was managing the syndicate of police, bureaucrats and politicians.

The Damanis also sent large sums of cash to the promoters in UAE through hawala.

During questioning, Anil Damani said that in the last 2-3 years, Sunil Damani and he carried out transactions to the tune of Rs 60-65 crore through hawala on the request of Uppal, while he was given Rs 6 lakh. He added that they run the hawala ring through their jewellery shop.

Call Detail Records show the Damanis have been in constant contact with Chandrakar and Uppal.

Satish Chandrakar, who was arrested in this case by the ED, was running four call centres and had a five percent stake. He too was tasked with overseeing the illegal money transactions. Probe also revealed that Satish Chandrakar was also connected to gangster and drug mafia boss Tapan Sarkar, who is on the run in the case.

The projected proceeds of crime in this case are about Rs 6,000 crore, according to the ED.

The Bollywood connection

The ED has alleged in its charge sheet that Chandrakar got married at UAE’s Ras Al Khaimah in February 2023 and about Rs 200 crore “in cash” was spent for this event.

Around 17 Hindi film celebrities and Chandrakar’s relatives were flown in by chartered flights. The celebrities also performed at the wedding and were allegedly paid crores of rupees through hawala in return.

Further, actor Ranbir Kapoor has been accused of promoting a sporting app linked to the Mahadev online betting app. Hence, all actors who were present at the wedding have been included in the scope of the investigation.

New Delhi:

Sourabh Chandrakar – a primary accused in the Rs 5,000-crore Mahdev app betting case – will be extradited from the UAE and brought to India within a week, sources told NDTV Friday.

The extradition process – greenlit by UAE authorities after the External Affairs Ministry intervened on behalf of the probe agency – is in the final stages, sources also said.

Chandrakar – who operated a juice shop in Chhattisgarh’s Bhilai before rising to head an alleged international betting syndicate – has been in police custody in the UAE since December.

He was detained in Dubai – and put under house arrest – based on an Interpol Red Corner Notice. His associate Ravi Uppal had been detained, also in Dubai, a few weeks earlier.

According to the ED Chandrakar and Uppal ran the Mahadev network – which allegedly included a nexus of police, bureaucrats, and politicians to shield the illegal activities – from Dubai.

Call centres were opened across Malaysia, Thailand, and India, and also in the UAE, through which illegal betting was conducted by creating an entire ecosystem of interlinked mobile apps.

The ED has claimed the network consisted of around 4,000 ‘panel operators’, based across different states in India, with handling around 200 customers placing bets. Using this method, the two made at least Rs 200 crore daily, and managed to build a criminal empire in the UAE.

In September last year the ED seized assets worth Rs 417 crore from raids in 39 locations in Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bhopal; the network’s India operation was run with help from two other associates of Chandrakar – Anil and Sunil Dammani. The former was also tasked with paying off cops, bureaucrats, and politicians with the illegally acquired money to buy their silence.

One of those ‘protectors’ named by the ED is Chandra Bhushan Verma, a former senior member of the Chhattisgarh Police department, who was paid via money routed from the UAE.

The money was passed through a jeweller in the state capital of Raipur.

During interrogation Anil Dammani said his brother and he, over the previous 24-36 months, passed nearly Rs 65 crore in illegal money through their hawala network. His cut was Rs 6 lakh.

It also emerged that the police officer, Verma, had direct links with the then Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s political advisor, Vinod Verma, which helped keep a tab on the cops.

This also led to the Congress leader becoming mired in a corruption case; this was after a man claiming to be the ‘real owner’ of the Mahadev app alleged he gave Mr Baghel Rs 508 crore.

The ED claimed a link between the man – Shubham Soni – and Bhupesh Baghel after it seized Rs 5.39 crore, in cash, from a hawala courier called Asim Das. In March – weeks before the Lok Sabha election – Chhattisgarh Police filed a FIR against Mr Baghel and 18 others.

Mr Baghel denied all charges, saying, “The FIR is politically motivated, I was deliberately implicated under pressure. It was done due to political vendetta.” He also claimed ED action against him was on instructions from the BJP; the ED reports to the central government.

He also claimed the Congress government had, in fact, identified Chandrakar and Uppal as the betting syndicate bosses and issued a notice, and that since they were not in state jurisdiction, it was the central government’s responsibility to track down and apprehend them.

The Chandrakar and Uppal (and Mahadev app) story reportedly began with the two becoming addicted to online gambling. This prompted the two to gather their savings for a gambling spree in Dubai. Once there they met a sheikh and a Pakistani national, and hatched this plan.

Sourabh Chandrakar also reportedly roped his brother, Satish, into the crime, putting him in charge of running four call centres and giving him a five per cent stake. Satish also had links to Tapan Sarkar – a noted gangster and drug mafia boss who is now on the run.

The Mahadev betting app dragnet has also hauled in Bollywood celebrities, among the most notable of whom is actor Ranbir Kapoor, who was accused of promoting a subsidiary app.

Actor Sahil Khan was arrested in connection with this case. He got bail in July.