Mahadev app among 22 illegal online betting platforms blocked by MeitY

Back Mahadev app among 22 illegal online betting platforms blocked by MeitY

The owners of Mahadev app are currently in custody, having been arrested under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for alleged money laundering.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on November 5 issued blocking orders against 22 illegal betting app and websites, including Mahadev Book, which is at the centre of a political row in poll-bound Chhattisgarh.

What is the Mahadev app and what is the controversy surrounding it?

A few weeks back, prominent Bollywood figures were summoned by India’s central agency the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering investigation linked to a betting app case. The case involved is the Mahadev betting app – which provides betting in different kinds of games and card games. The promoters of the app are Ravi Uppal and Saurabh Chandraka. Uppal and Chandraka are residents of Bhilai in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh but they currently stay in Dubai.

The ED claimed that a forensic analysis and a statement made by a cash courier led to allegations that the app’s promoters paid over $61 million (around Rs 508 crore) to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.

Elections are on in Chhattisgarh and this case might affect Chief Minister Baghel’s prospects. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state has repeatedly hit out at Baghel and his government over the case. 

What is the app & the controversy?

The Mahadev app facilitates betting on different types of games including cricket, football, tennis etc.. Reports say the app facilitates betting on card games including poker and also virtual sporting games.

The app is operated by a network of closed groups on different instant messaging platforms. These groups have reportedly earned around $24 million per day. 

The modus operandi here is that the groups will post phone numbers of websites in an attempt to lure people to play and make profits. Once these numbers are contacted, people will be provided with two separate contact numbers. One such number is for depositing money and getting points in user IDs used for betting, while the other is for contacting the website to cash out the points in the assigned IDs. 

Why is Bollywood under the scanner?

Several Bollywood figures from Ranbir Kapoor to Kapil Sharma have been summoned by the ED in connection with the case. However, these figures are not necessarily accused but are believed to have been associated with the Mahadev app in various capacities.

Some of them reportedly endorsed the app, while others were involved in entertaining guests at a wedding of one of the app’s promoters held overseas.

Recently, the central government blocked 22 illegal betting apps in the country which also included the Mahadev app. 

A political war of words

A political war of words has broken between the BJP and Bhupesh Baghel over the case. Last Sunday, the BJP shared a video of Shubham Soni, an accused in the case, where he said that he was the owner of the app and had evidence of paying $61 million to Chhattisgarh CM Baghel.

However, Baghel has dismissed all allegations and accused the BJP of weaponising the ED. “…Why has the Election Commission not taken cognizance of this? … A complaint will be sent from us…Investigation should be done for the tarnishing image… There are clear directions in the guidelines of the Election Commission…They should look into this…” he told reporters on Monday.

The action follows investigations conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against an illegal betting app syndicate and subsequent raids on Mahadev Book in Chhattisgarh, revealing the app’s alleged unlawful operations.

The ED, earlier this week, said a forensic analysis and a statement made by a “cash courier” has led to the “startling allegation” of ₹508 crore being paid to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel by Mahadev app promoters.

“Congress government in Chhattisgarh has not spared any chance to loot you. They have not even spared the name of ‘Mahadev’,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on November 2, while addressing an election rally in Durg.

Baghel countered Modi over the issue on November 4, as he told reporters that the prime minister should order a closure of the Mahadev app. 

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“Why was the Mahadev app not closed? It’s the Indian government’s duty to shut down the app. I want to ask PM, what’s your deal?… If the deal has not happened, then why are you not closing the app? If you are not closing the app, then the deal has happened,” he told reporters.

Union Minister of State for IT and Electronics Rajeev Chandrasekhar, however, blamed the Baghel-led Chhattisgarh over the delay in the crackdown on the betting platform. 

“Chhattisgarh government had all the power to recommend shutting down of website/app under Section 69A (of) IT Act. However, they did not do so and no such request is made by the state government while they have been investigating it for last 1.5 years,” he said.

The Centre, on the other hand, acted immediately after receiving a request to close down the app from the ED, the minister claimed. “In fact, the first and only request has been received from ED and it has been acted upon. Nothing prevented Chhattisgarh government from making similar requests,” he added.