On 24th September (Thursday), Abhishek Kumar, a main accused in the multi-crore Mahadev internet betting application racket, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) upon his arrival at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport after he was deported from Dubai. The agency stated that incriminating evidence has been recovered from him.
CBI Arrests Abhishek Kumar, Kingpin wanted in Mahadev Betting App Case pic.twitter.com/w9fWAbCKzU
— Central Bureau of Investigation (India) (@CBIHeadquarters) September 24, 2026
Notably, the scam unfolded during the Congress-led government in Chhattisgarh and former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was named as an accused and beneficiary in the case, while his associates had also been booked and arrested. Furthermore, state governments are in charge of gaming and betting under the Indian Constitution.
A CBI spokesperson informed, “The investigation has found that he played an active role in coordinating betting panels, collecting funds, and acquiring immovable assets in Dubai using alleged proceeds from the illegal operations.” Kumar was brought before a Hyderabad local court and granted a three-day transit remand. Later, he was brought before a Raipur court and taken into custody by the police for two days.
Kumar, a close aide of key accused Sourabh Chandrakar and Shubham Soni, was evading capture. The extradition of Chandrakar, another kingpin behind the betting scheme, is being pursued in Oman after he was apprehended there in June. Last year, Indian agencies learned that Ravi Uppal, his partner and co-mastermind, had fled to Vanuatu from the United Arab Emirates.
The official mentioned, “The Mahadev Betting App case was transferred to the CBI after the Chhattisgarh government handed over 13 FIRs registered at different police stations in the state. The agency subsequently took over the cases and has so far filed eight chargesheets against 100 accused persons, including the app’s main promoters, panel operators, hawala operators and public servants of the government.”
According to officials, further inquiry is in progress to find the other perpetrators who have escaped. Additionally, attempts are being undertaken to prosecute the app’s primary promoters in India. “Efforts are being made to bring the main promoters – Chandrakar and Uppal – of the Mahadev Betting App back to India to face trial. Seven Red Corner Notices and two extradition proposals have been sent so far, and extradition proceedings against two accused are underway,” the spokesperson added.
Charge sheet points to police-politician nexus, Rs 94,400 crore in criminal gains
Earlier this month, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is carrying out a simultaneous money laundering probe in the case, submitted its sixth charge sheet against 42 people and businesses before a Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Court in Raipur.
The charge sheet unveiled that the app and its sister websites have made Rs 94,400 crore in criminal gains over the past ten years, with the main platform still functioning with a “huge” number of panels. “As per the latest findings of the investigation under PMLA, 2002, it is found that Mahadev Online Booking Application is still in operation and running a huge number of panels,” the charge sheet read.
The ED pointed out that local police and Chhattisgarh politicians provided “active support and connivance” for the “systematic” workings of the app. It stressed, “The bureaucrats and politically exposed persons have been receiving illegal gratification for turning a blind eye to this illegal betting racket.”
The charge sheet highlighted that the app was a combination of unlawful betting websites housed overseas, with its primary promoters and panel members being from Chhattisgarh. According to the agency, foreign portfolio investments (FPIs) have invested more than Rs 1,000 crore in Indian share markets. The accused reportedly made over Rs 11,000 crore a year from illicit internet gambling and betting activities over the past few years.
The ED stated that “it can be estimated that proceeds of crime worth Rs 11,400 crore (approximately) must have been generated by illegal operations of Mahadev online book every year,” based on an examination of various digital evidence that was collected and statements made by the accused. The gambling network was established in 2019.
The charge sheet further asserted that the app probably generated between Rs 75,000 crore and Rs 80,000 crore in criminal proceeds in the last 7 years. Additionally, the agency stated that sister websites like Lotus365.com and Skyexchange.com produced between Rs 11,000 crore to Rs 12,000 crore and Rs 2,400 crore in similar revenue, respectively. Skyexchange.com has been functioning since 2016. “A majority of the proceeds of crime was layered and transferred to the promoters based in Dubai,” it conveyed.
The ED emphasised that these figures were “only a provisional estimate and in case any evidence which reflects a better estimate comes to surface, the same shall be presented before the court.” It stated that the app attracted thousands of young people with the promise of rapid money through betting and entertainment while promoting these websites through Facebook pages and private WhatsApp and Telegram groups. In October 2022, the agency launched a money laundering case after receiving seven police FIRs from West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.
According to the agency, the app offered online venues for illegal betting on cricket, badminton, tennis, football, and other live games, including poker, card games, and other chance games. It included card games like Teen Patti, Dragon Tiger, and Virtual Cricket as well as apps that let users wager on various Indian elections.
A TV anchor who marketed these betting apps offered the agency two demand drafts for Rs 1.20 crore out of the Rs 1.50 crore she had made by the endorsements. According to her, she was unaware that such earnings were prohibited in India and volunteered to turn over the money. During a raid on her residences in Delhi and Mumbai in May, the ED confiscated Rs 30 lakh in cash, classifying the full Rs 1.5 crore as proceeds of illicit betting.
The agency mentioned that panel operators from locations including Bhilai, Raipur, Bhopal, and Delhi made between Rs 3.5 crore and Rs 60 crore, which they then used to finance weddings and purchase luxury sarees, real estate, gold, and automobiles. The ED has identified 116 accused across six charge sheets, searched 190 locations nationwide, nabbed 14 people, as well as seized and attached assets worth Rs 2,104 crore.
Interestingly, the app grabbed broader headlines after the ED summoned Bollywood A-listers like Ranbir Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Huma Qureshi, and Hina Khan, who along with several Bollywood personalities, attended and performed at the wedding ceremony of Saurabh Chandrakar.
Links with Dawood, Baghel accused of taking Rs 508 crore and more: The background of the case
According to the Enforcement Directorate, in October 2023, agreements were made between the app’s promoters and the D-Company, operated by Dawood Ibrahim, one of India’s most wanted terrorists and the man behind the 1993 Mumbai bombings. His brother Mustaqeem Ali Kaskar contacted Chandrakar after the app’s popularity and asked for a similar betting platform for Pakistan that would deal in the nation’s currency.
During his trip to Dubai, the former also provided him with roughly thirty bodyguards. At least 500 hawala operators and over 70 shell companies were used to move the money used in the scheme to Middle Eastern countries, particularly Dubai.
On 3rd November of that year, the ED announced that fresh evidence from a search operation revealed that regular payments had previously been made, with the promoters having given Baghel almost Rs 508 crore thus far. A day earlier, the ED successfully conducted search operations in Chhattisgarh, intercepting cash worth Rs 5.39 crore after receiving reliable information.
On 6th January 2024, reports emerged suggesting that Baghel has been named in a supplementary charge sheet that the agency has filed in connection with the investigation. It was related to allegations that he had received Rs 508 crore from the promoters of the app. The agency outlined that the arrested accused, Asim Das, confirmed in his statement that he received instructions from Subham Soni to give Baghel a sizeable sum of cash.
According to the chargesheet, Subham Soni summoned Asim Das to Dubai and presented him with money to be passed to the Congress senior leader. The allegations were further supported by a voicemail that was found on Asim’s phone in which he was clearly instructed to transfer between Rs 8 and 10 crore to Baghel when he returns to India.
The ED declared that Asim’s confession and a forensic investigation had resulted in “startling allegations” that the app’s promoters had handed over more than Rs 508 crore to Baghel prior to the first round of the Chhattisgarh elections at the time.
A few months later, in March, the agency froze Rs 580.78 crore in assets relating to the case, stating that its operations are conducted from Dubai. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Chhattisgarh lodged an FIR against Baghel and others in the same month. The officials indicated that the ED’s charge sheet served as the basis for the action.
The case was registered under various sections of the then Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), and 471 (using as genuine a forged document), and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.
Last year, the CBI FIR also included the ED report, which identified Baghel as a beneficiary. It re-registered the FIR of Chhattisgarh police’s EOW as its own case in which Baghel is designated as accused number 6 out of 19.
“It has also been revealed by Chandrabhushan Verma (a police personnel who was the main link between Dubai-based promoters and Chhattisgarh-based powers that be) that Baghel’s OSD (Officer on Special Duty) and political advisor were being paid proceeds out of Mahadev Online Book regularly,” the ED report disclosed. The FIR was launched by the CBI on 18th December 2024, after which it raided Baghel’s house on 26th March 2025.
The matter escalated into a significant political controversy, with Baghel denying the grave allegations while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) intensified its attack on him and his grand old party, pointing to the revelations and even accusing him of disrespecting Lord Mahadev.
