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Chhattisgarh cop says, ‘Mahadev app kingpin’ allegedly provided money to friend of chief minister

According to a chargesheet released on Saturday, Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Chandrabhushan Verma, who was detained by the Enforcement Directorate in August of this year in connection with the Mahadev illegal betting app case, claimed that a ‘close friend’ of the chief minister of Chhattisgarh had received money through a hawala transaction.

 

According to the chargesheet, Verma admitted to the Enforcement Directorate that Vijay Bhatia, Laxminarayan Bansal, Ashish Verma, and Manish Banchor received a portion of the hawala revenues obtained from Nagpur. Ashish Verma and Manish Banchor are Officers on Special Duty (OSDs) to the CM of Chhattisgarh, according to Verma. ‘Vijay Bhatia is a close friend of the CM of Chhattisgarh,’ Verma claimed.

 

The promoters of the online betting programme, which the Enforcement Directorate is currently looking into, are Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal. ASI Verma stated that Chandrakar’s colleague Ravi Uppal remitted the app’s revenues through hawala operators in Nagpur during questioning by the ED on August 22.

 

The money, according to him, was thereafter given to several police officers as ‘liasoning money.’ The ED chargesheet contains around 8,887 pages of evidence and was submitted to a special PMLA court in Raipur.

 

‘The promoters who are natives of Chhattisgarh have comfortably parked themselves outside of India and created assets for themselves across the globe, but they still rely on their links back in Chhattisgarh to have a steady supply of an army of youth who are willing to relocate and work on the Mahadev online app,’ another part of the ED chargesheet read, briefing about the case.

 

The investigation agency also stated that the actions taken by the app were not authorised. According to the central investigation agency, the transactions are not reported and are not taxed.

 

A total of Rs 41 crore has already been provisionally attached, and the investigation agency estimates that the proceeds of the crime could be in the area of Rs 6,000 crores.

 

Those named in the chargesheet are Sourabh Chandrakar, Ravi Uppal, Vikas Chapariya, Chandrabhushan Verma, Sourabh Chandrakar’s brother Satish Chandrakar, Anil Dammani, Sunil Dammani, Vishal Ahuja, Dheeraj Ahuja, Punaram Verma, Shiv Kumar Verma, Punaram Verma, Yashoda Verma and Pawan Nathani.

 

Under the name Mahadev Book app, Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal created a number of websites and applications that provide online gambling and betting services as well as other criminal activities. It is thought that the two defendants, who are both from Chhattisgarh, are hiding in Dubai. The ED found strong proof of money laundering and frozen or confiscated criminal proceeds totaling Rs 417 crore.

 

In August, the Chhattisgarh Police and the central agency issued a Lookout Circular (LOC) against the pair, which might result in their arrest if they try to enter India.

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