Indian agencies have scored a major win against illegal online betting. Sourabh Chandrakar, the alleged mastermind of the Mahadev betting app, is back in India after being extradited from Oman.
CBI Brings Chandrakar Back From Muscat
The CBI said on November 1 that it had secured his extradition and brought him to India. He is wanted in two CBI cases where chargesheets are filed, and in an ED case where a prosecution complaint is filed. A CBI team travelled to Muscat to take custody of him after Oman approved India’s request.
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Arrested In Oman On A Forged Passport
Chandrakar was arrested by the Royal Oman Police on July 8, reportedly after entering the country on a forged Indonesian passport. He is due to be produced in a Raipur court on Monday.
Inside The Rs 6,000 Crore Mahadev Syndicate
The ED says the proceeds of crime stand at Rs 6,000 crore. It alleges the app ran as an international betting syndicate with a franchise network of “panels” and “branches” across India, controlled from Dubai by Chandrakar and co-founder Ravi Uppal. The two have denied any association with the alleged racket.
Where Ranbir Kapoor And Shraddha Kapoor Stand
The celebrity link dates to October 2023. The ED summoned Ranbir Kapoor and then Shraddha Kapoor over the app. The agency suspected the payments they received for promotion were proceeds of crime. Reports at the time said Ranbir was summoned not as an accused but to understand the source of the money he received. Other actors were also summoned, and they were not understood to be accused either.
Nothing in the reports on this extradition names either actor as an accused. Still, Chandrakar’s custody puts the investigation’s main figure in the agency’s hands, and his questioning could shed more light on the money trail behind celebrity endorsements.
