EOW to investigate Mahadev app scam; case filed against 32 accused in Mumbai

According to the FIR, filed by the complainant, Prakash Bankar, a social activist from Matunga, a fraud of about Rs 15,000 crore from 2019 to now was done. The Mahadev app has gained popularity among the people and celebrities were found promoting it.

Mumbai:The Economic Offence Wing (EOW) will investigate the Mahadev app case that is keeping Enforcement Directorate sleuths busy with the investigation that has run into multiple states over the past few days.

Mumbai Police registered a case against 32 people including promoter of Mahadev Betting App Saurabh Chandrakar, Ravi Uppal and Shubh Soni in Matunga Police Station on Tuesday. earlier, just days before Chhattisgarh went to polls, explosive allegations of an accused in the Mahadev betting app caught the Congress government led by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel off guard.

In February, the Mahadev app, run from Dubai, had come under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate after a Rs 200-crore grand wedding held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after the entire amount spent on the bash was paid in cash.

According to the FIR filed by the complainant, Prakash Bankar, a social activist from Matunga, a fraud of about Rs 15,000 crore from 2019 to now was done. The Mahadev app has gained popularity among the people and celebrities were found promoting it. Therefore, Deputy Commissioner of Police Prashant Kadam in an interaction with ETV Bharat said this case will be classified under Economic Offenses Branch due to the large amount.

The case was registered under the Cheating and Gambling Act. Senior Police Inspector Deepak Chavan of Matunga Police Station informed that this case has been registered on the orders of the court. He also said that no one has been called for questioning in this case, but the preliminary investigation is underway.

A case has been registered against them for running a betting app called Khiladi. After Prakash Bankar filed a complaint in the court, the court ordered the Matunga police to register the case. Bankar claimed the accused people cheated the government using the Khiladi betting app. The accused were playing gambling and other games with the help of the Khiladi app and have earned crores of rupees.

Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal had earlier been booked by Chhattisgarh police in various cases. The ED has also registered a case of money laundering against them. In this regard, the ED is also investigating celebrities in different states of the country.

Other accused in the case include Rohit Kumar Murgai from Punjab, Kumar Rathi from Dubai, Shubham Soni from Chhattisgarh, Atul Aggarwal from Chhattisgarh, Vikas Chaparia from West Bengal, Amit from Mumbai, Lala Rathi from Dubai, Abhishek Rathi from Chhattisgarh, Khanjam Thakkar from Mumbai, Amit Jandal Jain from Delhi and several others.

All of them are absconding. The ED raided at least 39 locations in several states, including Mumbai, Raipur and Kolkata, and subsequently recovered illegal assets worth Rs 2,000 crore. Four hundred and seventeen crores out of that amount was seized.

Apart from Chhattisgarh, the ripples of the scam are also felt in other states. A team of the Economic Offenses Wing of Mumbai Police reached Goa looking for former minister Suresh Parulekar who is wanted in a fraud case along with his wife and son.

Last week, a court in Mumbai had rejected anticipatory bail to the minister, his son and his wife. The EOW in June had registered a case of cheating against Goa-based real estate company Reis Magos Estate Private Limited, and its three directors — Suresh Parulekar, Prasad Parulekar and Manda Suresh Parulekar — for allegedly duping a 39-year-old Premchand Gawas from Goa to the tune of Rs 14.9 crore.