On 30th October (Monday), the Cyber Cell of Maharashtra Police called rapper Badshah for interrogation in connection with the illegal screening of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament on an online betting app named ‘FairPlay’ he promoted. Subsequently, he appeared at the Maharashtra Cyber office in Mumbai.
Notably, the Fairplay app which has come under the scanner is a subsidiary app of the Mahadev app, promoters of which have links with Dawood Ibrahim’s D-company and are being probed in a money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate.
#WATCH | Maharashtra Police Cyber Cell is questioning rapper Badshah in Mumbai, in connection with the online betting company app 'FairPlay'. pic.twitter.com/QAcEYqk7Ly
— ANI (@ANI) October 30, 2023
Notably, Aditya Prateek Singh Sisodia, professionally known as Badshah has been accused by Viacom 18 for violating its Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).
According to reports, the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) to stream the IPL 2023 matches were owned by Viacom18. However, Fairplay was screening the cricket competition concurrently from March 2023 to May 2023.
The network had lodged a police complaint against the rapper and 40 other individuals, which included actor Sanjay Dutt. They have been accused of endorsing the use of a betting app called Fairplay which was illegally broadcasting the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches.
Viacom 18 highlighted that it had the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) to stream the IPL matches. It pointed out that the matches were illegally streamed on Fairplay and some actors promoted the tournament on the Fairplay app. Viacom 18 also said that the digital piracy by the Fairplay app cost them a loss of Rs 100 crores.
Subsequently, a case of digital piracy was filed by the media network and it is expected that more actors could likely be summoned in the case.
Fairplay app promoted by Badshah has connections with the Mahadev app which has links with Dawood Ibrahim’s D-company
It is important to note that the Fairplay app is a subsidiary app of the Mahadev Betting App, which is promoted by Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal who are currently being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case.
Mahadev Online betting application is said to be an umbrella syndicate that arranges online platforms for allegedly enabling illegal betting websites. The app came to the limelight when its co-founder organised a lavish Rs 200 crore wedding in the United Arab Emirates and paid for the whole event in cash.
Earlier OpIndia reported that on September 15, 2023, ED sources revealed that several Bollywood celebrities, including singers, dancers, and actors attended the wedding ceremony of the scam-accused owner of the Mahadev Betting app Saurabh Chandrakar. The wedding took place in UAE in February 2023.
The celebrities that reportedly attended the wedding of the scam-accused Saurabh Chandrakar included Atif Aslam, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Ali Asgar, Vishal Dadlani, Tiger Shroff, Elli AvrRam, Bharti Singh, Sunny Leone, Bhagyashree, Kriti Kharbanda, Neha Kakkar, Nushrratt Bharuccha and Krushna Abhishek. They were performing at the accused money launderer’s wedding. ED is also likely to summon them and inquire about the payments received for the performance.
Previously, several celebrities, such as Ranbir Kapoor, Huma Qureshi, Kapil Sharma, Shraddha Kapoor, and more, were called in for questioning regarding the case.
To read a detailed report about the evidence gathered by the ED and more about the case related to the Mahadev betting App, click here.
