After receiving reliable information, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) successfully searched Chhattisgarh on November 2, 2023, resulting in the seizure of Rs 5.39 crore in cash in the state that is about to go to polls. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is looking into the Mahadev Book Online Betting APP syndicate. The syndicate’s promoters, who are primarily from Chhattisgarh, are based overseas and manage thousands of betting panels remotely throughout India with the assistance of their friends and associates. Together, they have amassed thousands of crores in proceeds from criminal activity.
In addition to seizing almost Rs 450 crore in illicit revenues and arresting four suspects, the ED has also filed a prosecution charge against fourteen other suspects.
The founders of Mahadev Book Online Betting App are reportedly moving substantial sums of cash into Chhattisgarh in preparation for the Assembly Elections that are set for November 7 and 17, 2023. This information was reported to the ED on November 2, 2023. During searches at the Hotel Triton and another place in Bhilai, the Enforcement Department (ED) successfully apprehended Asim Das, a cash courier who had been sent specifically from the United Arab Emirates to carry huge amounts of cash for the ruling Congress Party’s electioneering costs.
A total of Rs 5.39 crore in cash had been confiscated by ED (from his car & at his apartment). Asim Das has acknowledged that the money that was taken into custody was planned by the Mahadev Book Online Betting App promoters to be sent to a politician named “Baghel” for use in the state of Chhattisgarh’s impending election. Additionally, the Enforcement Department (ED) found many Mahadev APP benami bank accounts, with frozen balances totalling Rs 15.59 crore.
Asim Das is under arrest by the ED. Many shocking allegations have surfaced from the questioning of Asim Das, the forensic examination of the phone that was recovered from him, and the examination of an email sent by Shubam Soni, one of the high-ranking accused of the Mahadev Book Online Betting App network. These allegations include the claim that Bhupesh Baghel, the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, has received regular payments from Mahadev APP Promoters in the past, with a total of approximately Rs 508 crore paid to date. These are areas that need further research.
Police Constable Bheem Yadav has also been questioned and taken into custody by ED during additional inquiry. According to an ED investigation, Bheem Yadav has been attending Mahadev APP gala functions and meeting Ravi Uppal and Sourabh Chandrakar during his unauthorized trips to Dubai over the past three years. M/s Rapid Travels of Ahuja Brothers, Mahadev Book Online Betting App’s money laundering and ticketing company, has been paying for Yadav’s travel expenses. He served as a middleman to accept bribe money from the Mahadev APP promoters for the advantage of Chhattisgarh’s politicians and senior officers.
The accused were both presented before the Honorable PMLA Special Judge Raipur, and the ED requested that they be questioned while in custody in order to find proof of money laundering and independently verify their shocking confessions. They were placed in ED Custody for a period of seven days by the Honorable Court. Further research is now being conducted.
