A man claiming to be the owner of the Mahadev betting app, the online betting platform at the centre of a probe by the Enforcement Directorate, has said in a video statement that he has paid Rs 508 crore so far to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s aides.
A video of the statement, shared by the BJP on its official Twitter handle, shows a man named Subham Soni claiming that he shifted base to Dubai from India following the advice of the Chief Minister and has been paying “protection money” to his aides in order to keep his men from harm’s way.
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Saurabh Kumar Pande, Special Public Prosecutor, Enforcement Directorate, Raipur, said Soni has already been summoned in connection with the app, which was used to dupe thousands. “Right now further investigation is going on in which a summons under Section 50 PMLA was issued to Shubham Soni to tender his statement before ED Raipur. He is stationed in Dubai. Rather than appearing before ED to tender his statement, he has sent an email containing certain information, some of which have been detailed in the video,” Pande said, according to The Indian Express.
In his video statement, Soni claimed that he fell victim to the “political system” and urged the Government of India to ensure his safe return to the country. “I have evidence of all transactions and payments made to politicians, including the Chief Minister and his aides. My only request to the Indian government is that they facilitate my return to India. I am caught in the midst of a web created by the political system and I want to get out of it. Please help me,” he said.
In a detailed statement following the developments after the claim, CM Bhupesh Baghel dismissed the charges as a ploy by the BJP to tarnish his image just before the elections. “BJP wants to fight elections by using central agencies like ED, IT etc. Just before elections, an ugly attempt is made to spoil my image. This is a political attempt to defame the popular Congress government through ED’s medium,” he said.
“Earlier, in the Mahadev app case, ED defamed people close to me by raiding their homes, and now, suddenly, based on a person’s statement, they have made an allegation of me taking Rs 508 crore,” Baghel said and asked the Election Commission to check the money allegedly coming in boxes brought by central agencies in special planes.
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Controversy broke out after the Enforcement Directorate claimed that it had recorded the statement of a “cash courier” held in Chhattisgarh who claimed that Rs 508 crore was paid to the chief minister by the promoters of the Mahadev betting app. The ED said it had taken cognisance of the allegations which it termed as serious, and said that an investigation is underway.