Raipur News: Troubles seem to be mounting for senior Congress leader and former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, as the Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state has reportedly recommended a probe by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the Mahadev betting app case. In January, Baghel was named in a supplementary chargesheet by the ED regarding allegations of receiving bribes, approximately Rs 508 crore, from the Mahadev app promoters in the UAE.
Quoting people familiar with the matter, a report by Hindustan Times said CBI will “soon” register a case based on the Chhattisgarh Police’s March 4 first information report (FIR), in which Baghel was named as an accused along with Mahadev app promoters Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal.
The development came days after Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma on Wednesday said the CM Sai-led government was considering transferring the cases lodged in connection with the Mahadev betting app `scam’ to the federal probe agency.
Mahadev Betting App Case
After the BJP came to power in the state, the EOW registered an FIR under Indian Penal Code sections 120b (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating) and the Prevention of Corruption Act in March, based on a report submitted to it by the ED. About 70 cases related to the alleged scam have been registered with the state Economic Offences Wing (EOW) and various police stations. Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel, promoters of the app Ravi Uppal, Saurabh Chandrakar, Shubham Soni and Anil Kumar Agrawal, and 14 others were named as accused in the EOW’s FIR. Baghel called the FIR “politically motivated.”
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also been probing money laundering cases linked to the Mahadev app, which came to light during the previous Congress government in the state, for more than a year. The ED has alleged that its probe revealed the involvement of various high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh. Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, notably, hail from Chhattisgarh.
The app was an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites to enrol new users, create user IDs and launder money through a layered web of `benami’ bank accounts, as per the probe agency. The ED has arrested a total of 11 persons in the case till now. The projected proceeds of crime are about Rs 6,000 crore, the central agency has said.