As Saurabh Chandrakar, one of the primary founders of the Mahadev betting app, gets about to be handed over to Indian authorities, insiders told NDTV about the money laundering, the degree of connection to the app’s operation, and the pivotal role played by two brothers from Chhattisgarh.
Sources claim that Chandrakar’s official arrest in Dubai was made possible by an Interpol-issued arrest warrant related to a fraud and money laundering case. Late last year, Chandrakar and another app promoter, Ravi Uppal, were arrested and placed under “house arrest” in Dubai as a result of the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) request to issue 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.
Following the launch of the app, the two established call centers in significant Malaysian, Thai, Indian, and United Arab Emirates cities. Through these centers, numerous subsidiary apps were developed to enable online betting. About thirty call centers were run in Chhattisgarh and other Indian states with the assistance of two people, Anil Damani and Sunil Damani, who were close associates of Chandrakar and Uppal.
According to the ED, the network included over 4,000 “panel operators” who were dispersed throughout several Indian states and who handled about 200 bettors. The two were able to create a criminal empire in the United Arab Emirates by using this strategy, earning at least ₹ 200 crore every day.
Investigation by the ED found that thousand of crores were swindled through the betting and other interlinked apps, according to sources.
An established connection’s financial trail
To manage the app’s earnings in India, Chandrakar and Uppal ran a nexus with the police, bureaucrats, and politicians.
A significant number of benami bank accounts were opened with assistance from the Damanis. In order to avoid being investigated, Anil Damani was given the responsibility of rerouting the money acquired through hawala to pay the bureaucrats, politicians, and police.
For the same reason, money was also provided to Chandra Bhushan Verma, an Assistant Sub Inspector of the Chhattisgarh Police. He was coordinating the syndicate of police, bureaucrats, and politicians with the help of Vinod Verma, the political advisor to then Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel.
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 ₹ 60-65 crore through hawala on the request of Uppal, while he was given ₹ 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 ₹ 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 ₹ 200 crore “in cash” was spent for this event.
About 17 Hindi film personalities and Chandrakar’s relatives were flown in on chartered flights. Celebrities also performed at the wedding and were allegedly given crores of rupees via hawala in exchange.
Furthermore, actor Ranbir Kapoor has been accused of marketing a sports app that is tied to the Mahadev online betting program. As a result, the probe now includes all actors who were present at the wedding.
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Source: NDTV
