According to official sources, Ravi Uppal, one of the two major owners of the Mahadev online betting app, was held in Dubai by local authorities on the basis of a red notice issued by Interpol at the request of the ED.
Uppal, 43, was held in that nation last week, and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is in contact with Dubai officials to get him returned to India, they added.
Apart from the Chhattisgarh and Mumbai Police crime branches, the businessman is being investigated by the ED in a money laundering case related to alleged unlawful betting through internet applications.
In October, the federal investigation agency filed a money laundering charge sheet against Uppal and another promoter of the Internet-based platform, Sourabh Chandrakar, before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
Following the ED’s request, Interpol issued a red notice against the two on the basis of a court-issued non-bailable warrant.
The search for Chandrakant, 28, is also underway, according to reports.
In the charge sheet, the agency informed the court that Uppal had obtained a passport from Vanuatu, an island country in the Pacific Ocean, despite the fact that he had not renounced his Indian citizenship.
According to the prosecution complaint, Uppal “generated and enjoyed proceeds of crime and is involved in their concealment and layering.” Uppal was accused of “looking after the delivery of the liaison money to the bureaucrats and politicians of Chhattisgarh through Chandrabhushan Verma,” an assistant sub inspector of police, and others.
According to the ED, the estimated proceeds of crime in this case are over 6,000 crore.
In November, just before the first phase of Chhattisgarh assembly elections, the agency claimed that forensic analysis and a statement made by a ‘cash courier’ named Asim Das had led to “startling allegations” that Mahadev betting app promoters have paid about ₹508 crore to former Chhattisgarh chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel so far, adding these allegations were “subject matter of investigation”.
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