According to official sources, Ravi Uppal, one of the two major owners of the Mahadev online betting app, was held in Dubai by local authorities on the basis of a red corner notice (RCN) issued by Interpol at the request of the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Uppal is alleged to have been apprehended last week, and ED officials are working on a method to extradite him, according to sources.

In addition to the Mumbai and Chhattisgarh Police, the ED is also looking into Uppal, 43, in a money laundering case related to allegedly illegal betting.

In October, the ED presented a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, with a money laundering chargesheet against Uppal and another promoter of the Internet-based platform, Sourabh Chandrakar.

Interpol then issued a red alert in response to ED's request. In the charge sheet, the agency informed the court that Uppal had obtained a passport from Vanuatu, an island country in the Pacific Ocean, despite the fact that he had not renounced his Indian citizenship.

Charges Made Against Ravi Uppal:

According to the prosecutor's complaint, Uppal "generated and enjoyed proceeds of crime and is involved in their concealment and layering." The ED further claims that Uppal was "in charge of delivering the liasioning money to the bureaucrats and Ravi Uppalof Chhattisgarh through Chandrabhushan Verma," an assistant sub inspector of police, and others. According to the ED, the estimated proceeds of crime in this case are over Rs 6,000 crore.

The ED claimed in November this year, just before the first phase of Chhattisgarh assembly polls, that forensic analysis and a statement made by a 'cash courier' named Asim Das led to "startling allegations" that Mahadev betting app promoters had paid about Rs 508 crore to former Chhattisgarh chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel so far.

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