A group of individuals from various backgrounds stuck in the web of the Mahadev online gaming app are now at the centre of a money laundering investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The group comprises the owner of a juice corner, a contractor businessman, a former school dropout turned clothing salesman, and a BCA graduate. What brought them together was not just their shared interest in cricket but also their penchant for meeting at a paan stall in Bhilai’s Akash Ganga market.
The ED’s probe alleges that the Mahadev Online Book App, headquartered in the UAE, served as a platform for illegal betting, spanning activities from election outcomes to card games and cricket matches.
Money, according to the ED, flowed from the app’s owners to hawala operators in Chhattisgarh, with trails leading to influential bureaucrats and politicians within the state.
The agency has focussed its investigation on two key figures: Sourabh Chandrakar, 28, and Ravi Uppal, 43, both residents of Bhilai and believed to be evading authorities in Dubai.
The Mahadev app’s origins trace back to around 2017–2018, when Uppal and Chandrakar, despite their disparate backgrounds, crossed paths at the Akash Ganga market’s paan stall, where they bonded over tea and cricket scores.
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Earlier this year, Chhattisgarh Police issued a lookout notice for the duo, while the ED moved to issue a red-corner notice against them.
The agency’s crackdown on the betting app began around 2018, culminating in the arrest of four individuals from Raipur in August this year. However, Chandrakar and Uppal evaded the agency and are believed to be residing in Dubai.
The case came to light during Chandrakar’s lavish February wedding in Ras Al-Khaimah, UAE, where he reportedly spent over Rs 200 crore in allegedly ill-gotten funds. The ED has since summoned approximately 16 celebrities, including actors and singers, who performed at the wedding, suspecting that they were paid through hawala channels.
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Chandrakar, formerly a salesman at a Bhilai garment store earning Rs 10,000 monthly, later established ‘Juice Factory’ in Nehru Nagar. Meanwhile, Uppal, hailing from an upper-middle-class Bhilai family, took up borewell contracts and an oil-related business before his involvement in betting lasted for over a decade.
Uppal’s cricket bookies network extended across states, from Madhya Pradesh’s Katni to Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur, Raipur, Bhatapara, and Dhamtari. His regular visits to Bhilai allowed him to reconnect with local punters and introduce Chandrakar to his network, a crucial step in recruiting for the app.
Around 2017–2018, the duo commenced work on the online app. Initially, they sought guidance from the creators of a Hyderabad-based app before enlisting software engineers to establish their platform. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Chandrakar and Uppal had already begun their operations in Dubai.
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In Bhilai, the Uppal family’s bungalow now stands vacant, while Chandrakar’s former juice centre has a new owner. A two-story building that once housed multiple businesses under Chandrakar’s ownership was demolished earlier this year.
While Chandrakar and Uppal managed operations from Dubai, a local figure, Raja Gupta, alias Raj, became the face of the Mahadev app in Bhilai. A school dropout, Raj transitioned from a modest monthly salary to a flamboyant lifestyle, buying an i20 car, an iPhone, and flaunting gold and silver ornaments on social media. The ED’s recent raids have cast doubt on his role, but his whereabouts remain unknown.
Raj’s alleged task was to recruit youngsters from Chhattisgarh and transport them to Dubai, where they would sell customer login IDs to operators. While the lion’s share of profits went to the app owners, individuals like Raj received a portion, roughly 20 percent.
The betting operation also relied on youngsters handling back-end operations, including issuing IDs and managing money flow.
A significant number of these young recruits, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand, were sent to Dubai for training. Some stayed on, while others returned to India to manage operations domestically.
One such individual, a 29-year-old from Bhilai, shared his experience of working in Dubai, where he handled money deposits and reported the existence of 250 branches controlling the app, each generating substantial weekly earnings.