Ravi Uppal, one of the two main owners of the Mahadev online betting app, has been detained by Dubai police based on a red notice issued by Interpol at the request of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), official sources reported on Wednesday.
Uppal was apprehended in Dubai last week, and the ED is currently coordinating with Dubai authorities to facilitate his deportation to India.
The businessman is under investigation by the ED in a money laundering case related to alleged illegal betting through online apps, in collaboration with the Chhattisgarh and Mumbai Police crime branch. In October, the ED filed a money laundering charge sheet against Uppal and another promoter of the Internet-based platform, Sourabh Chandrakar, before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
Following a court-issued non-bailable warrant, Interpol issued a red notice against both individuals upon the ED’s request. The ED is actively working to locate Chandrakant, aged 28, as part of the ongoing process.
The ED informed the court in the charge sheet that Uppal had obtained a passport from Vanuatu, an island country in the Pacific Ocean, despite retaining Indian citizenship. According to the prosecution complaint, Uppal “generated and enjoyed proceeds of crime and is involved in their concealment and layering.” The agency alleged that Uppal was responsible for delivering liaison money to bureaucrats and politicians in Chhattisgarh.
The projected proceeds of crime in this case amount to approximately Rs 6,000 crore, as per the ED. The agency claimed in November that Mahadev betting app promoters had allegedly paid around Rs 508 crore to former Chhattisgarh chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel, which was under investigation.
The ED’s investigation revealed that the Mahadev Online Book App operates from a central head office in the UAE and franchises “Panel/Branches” to associates on a 70-30 profit ratio. The agency highlighted large-scale hawala operations to transfer betting proceeds to offshore accounts and significant cash expenditures in India for advertising illegal betting websites to attract new users and panel seekers. The promoters of the company originate from Bhilai in Chhattisgarh, and the Mahadev online book betting application serves as an umbrella syndicate facilitating online platforms for illegal betting websites.
