Mahadev app promoter likely to be extradited from UAE

Sourabh Chandrakar, one of the main promoters of the Mahadev betting app, is expected to be brought to India soon following his recent formal arrest in Dubai on the basis of an Interpol issued arrest warrant in a money laundering and fraud case, official sources said Friday.

Chandrakar along with another promoter of the app, Ravi Uppal was detained and put under "house arrest" in that country late last year following the ED's request for issuance of a Red Notice (RN) against them.

An RN is issued by the Interpol.

Sources said Chandrakar is expected to be either extradited or deported to India over the next few days after he was formally placed under arrest in Dubai recently. The ED is in the process of sending relevant documents for his extradition to Dubai authorities following which a competent court there will be approached, they said.

Indian consulate sources in Dubai told PTI that they have "not heard anything from UAE authorities yet."

Chandrakar is stated to have left for Dubai in 2019 and before that he used to run a juice shop named "Juice Factory" with his brother in Bhillai town of Durg district in Chhattisgarh.

The ED has alleged that its probe in the Mahadev Online Book (MOB) gaming and betting app has shown involvement of various high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh, the state where Chandrakar and Uppal hail from.

MOB app, as per the federal agency, is an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites to enrol new users, create user IDs and laundering of money through a layered web of benami bank accounts.

The ED has arrested a total of 11 people in this case till now. Two charge sheets have also been filed by the agency till now, including against the two promoters. The Chhattisgarh Police too is investigating the case.

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

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

Private jets were hired to ferry Chandrakar's relatives from India to the UAE and celebrities were paid to perform at the wedding, the agency alleged.

It had claimed that the alleged illegal funds generated by the app were shared as bribes to politicians and bureaucrats in the state even as it has summoned many celebrities and Bollywood actors for questioning on the mode of payment and their links with the online betting platform.