Mahadev app kingpin held in UAE, faces extradition | India News

NEW DELHI: Enforcement Directorate is preparing to launch legal proceedings for the extradition of Sourabh Chandrakar, who was arrested by UAE police on Friday, and his accomplice Ravi Uppal, masterminds of the Mahadev online betting scam.
The arrest of Chandrakar, who was in house detention in Dubai following a red corner notice issued at ED’s behest, marks a significant turn in the investigation into the Rs 6,000-crore scam in which thousands were defrauded and which is believed to have contributed to Congress’s defeat in Chhattisgarh assembly polls last Nov.
Sources said ED will soon move court in Dubai for Chandrakar’s extradition.
The agency is set to share with UAE authorities details of financial transactions related to the illegal betting scam that was run from UAE. Uppal was arrested by Dubai police in Dec last year.
Senior bureaucrats, police officers and political figures in the then Bhupesh Baghel-led regime in Raipur have been accused of irregularities.
It is not clear if the agency will get him to India soon.
Uppal yet to be extradited, will ED get hands on Sourabh soon?
The agency is set to share with UAE authorities details of financial transactions related to the illegal betting scam that was run from UAE. Ravi Uppal was arrested by Dubai police in Dec last year.
Senior bureaucrats, police officers and political figures in the then Bhupesh Baghel-led regime in Raipur have been accused of irregularities. ED had earlier said in a statement that it was probing alleged payments of kickbacks of more than Rs 500 crore involving former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel.
Though Sourabh Chandrakar’s arrest by UAE police marks a success for ED’s dogged pursuit of him and Uppal, it is not clear if the agency will get him to India soon. It has not been able to get Uppal extradited, though he was arrested almost a year ago.
On Nov 2 last year, just weeks ahead of Chhattisgarh assembly elections, ED had arrested courier Asim Das with Rs 5 crore in cash in Raipur. The agency had then claimed that on questioning, the courier had confessed that the cash was to be delivered to politician ‘Baghel’ and was sent by Mahadev app promoters Chandrakar & Uppal.
“From questioning of Asim Das, and forensic examination of the phone recovered from him, and examination of an email sent by Shubam Soni (one of the high-ranking accused of Mahadev network), many startling allegations have come forth, namely, that regular payments have been made in the past and so far, about Rs 508 crore has been paid by Mahadev app promoters to Bhupesh Baghel. These are subject matter of investigation,” ED had said in a press note issued on Nov 3 after Das’s arrest.
Chandrakar was also in the news for his big wedding celebrations in UAE where the agency had claimed he spent nearly Rs 200 crore on events that included performances by Bollywood stars.