By Ashmit Kumar and Anushka Sharma
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) on Sunday, November 5, issued blocking orders against 22 illegal betting apps and websites, including the Mahadev app. The actions follows the extensive investigations and raids conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against illegal betting app syndicate and subsequent raids on Mahadev Book in Chhattisgarh.
IT Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar alleged the Chhattisgarh government did not send any request to block these platforms despite having powers to do so. “Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has issued blocking orders against 22 illegal betting apps & websites, including Mahadev Book and Reddyannaprestopro,” the statement said.
“Chhattisgarh Government had all the power to recommend shutting down of website/app under Sec 69A IT Act. However, they did not do so and no such request is made by the State Government while they have been investigating it for last 1.5 years. In fact, the first and only request has been received from ED and it has been acted upon. Nothing prevented Chhattisgarh Government from making similar requests,” Chandrasekhar said.
Accused Bhim Singh Yadav, working as a constable in the Chhattisgarh police force, and one Asim Das are currently in custody, having been arrested for violating Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the statement said.
The ED had previously apprehended the promoters of Mahadev Book on allegations of money laundering, further intensifying the legal actions against such entities. Recently, the ED claimed that a forensic analysis and a statement made by a ‘cash courier’ indicated that Mahadev betting app promoters paid about ₹508 crore to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.
The courier, Asim Das, has been arrested by the probe agency after recovering ₹5.39 crore from him in the poll-bound state. He had allegedly been sent from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to deliver this cash.
Mahadev is an online betting app, which was launched by Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal from Bhilai, Chattisgarh. The central investigative agency has alleged that Mahadev Online app provided online platforms for illegal betting in different live games such as poker, cricket, badminton, tennis, football to the extent of even providing an avenue to bet on different elections in India.
It is believed that the company’s promoters, who originally hail from Chhattisgarh, may have amassed as much as Rs 5,000 crores through the platform. As per reports, the app began its operations in 2017 and peaked its popularity during the COVID pandemic.
“Mahadev Online Book Betting App is an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites to enrol new users, create User IDs and launder money through a layered web of benami bank accounts. ED has recently conducted widespread searches against the money laundering networks linked with the Mahadev App in cities like Kolkata, Bhopal, Mumbai etc. and retrieved large amounts of incriminating evidence and has frozen/seized proceeds of crime worth Rs 417 Crore.” as per an earlier statement from ED.