The founders of the infamous Mahadev online betting app went from humble beginnings to establishing an online betting empire, reportedly amassing ₹200 crore a day. This is the rags to riches tale of Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal from Chhattisgarh, India and it starts from juice and tyre shops. 

Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, the dynamic duo behind the alleged money laundering scandal, kicked off their journey in Chhattisgarh. Chandrakar was once a simple juice vendor in Nehru Nagar, while Uppal used to own a tyre shop. Gambling, however, soon turned their world upside down, entrapping them in its addictive web. The lure of the gamble led them to Dubai, where they established the Mahadev online betting app - a venture that would later lead to their meteoric rise. 

Creation of Online Betting Empire 

In Dubai, Chandrakar and Uppal managed to meet a Sheikh and a Pakistani national. This new partnership led to the creation of the Mahadev online betting app. Back in India, they established around 4,000 panel operators for betting, roping in 200 customers per panel. It is this network that was instrumental in amassing the enormous daily earnings of ₹200 crore, which they allegedly laundered. 

The app, essentially providing a platform for illegal betting in virtual games such as poker, teen patti and cricket, launched its operations in 2017. Its popularity increased during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, a time when many people were locked in their homes due to the lockdown. According to sources, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has non-bailable warrants and lookout circulars for the duo due to their involvement in this scandal - NDTV 

Mahadev App Operation

It all begins with an innocent download of what seems to be a regular mobile application. The app offers platforms for those who fancy a bit of online betting in games, including poker, cricket, teen patti, and the like. 

  1. User Registration: The user on-boarding process starts with obtaining a user id and password, which reportedly come at a sizeable price, climbing into the thousands.
  2. Betting Activity: Once their account is all set, users can take part in online betting sessions. All finances flow via online transactions or bank accounts.
  3. Operations Amid Pandemic: The operation of the app got a major boost amid the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, as people cooped up in their homes discovered it as a pastime.
  4. Active Management: For seamless running, the app employs 'panel owners', who manage and keep tabs on the various betting platforms within the app. This ensured that the app reaped daily profits peaking at ₹200 crores, as per an NDTV report.
  5. Games Rigging: Amid the thriving operation, a manipulation scheme was ingeniously hidden. The games on the app were rigged to ensure that 'panel owners' never lost money. While users initially enjoyed profits, they bore losses upon addiction.

This greed would swiftly start attracting attention, bringing the app's operations under the scrutiny of law enforcement agencies.

Mahadev App: From Undercover Operations to Law Enforcement's Spotlight 

As the app grew in popularity and scrutiny, the law enforcement agencies zeroed in, leading to arrests connected to the betting app. Investigations further revealed the intricate web of benami bank accounts and exploited individuals that fuelled the app's illegal financing, hence putting the masterminds Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppalinto into the limelight. 

The Celebrity Connection 

The betting app made more headlines when ED revealed that several A-list Bollywood celebrities like Ranbir Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Kapil Sharma, Huma Qureshi and Hina Khan, among others, were summoned for questioning in connection with the Mahadev betting app-money laundering case. These celebrities were reportedly paid large fees through dubious transactions to attend and perform at lavish events organised by the promoters, including Sourabh Chandrakar's wedding in Dubai.  

Details of Transaction and Payment to Celebrities 

Following the investigations, it has come to light that these stars had reportedly received a massive total of ₹40 crore from the promoters of the betting platform. The payment was attributed to their appearance at a party happening on September 18 this year in a seven-star luxury hotel in Dubai.

The promoters of the Mahadev betting app have been under the lenses of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after the app's illicit activities from the UAE were exposed. According to ED sources, the total estimated earnings from the app are around ₹5,000 crore. The involvement of Bollywood celebrities in this scandal gives it even more sensational edge and keeps this case firmly in public eye. "Private jets were hired to ferry family members of the wedding party from Nagpur to UAE, celebrities were hired to perform in the marriage and wedding planners, dancers, decorators, etc, were hired from Mumbai and hawala channels were used to make the payments in cash”. - the sources said

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