The Enforcement Directorate stated on Friday, citing an ongoing investigation, that Bhupesh Baghel, the chief minister of Chhattisgarh, had received ₹508 crore from the promoters of the Mahadev betting app thus far.
Based on information suggesting the movement of a sizable sum of money in the state set to hold elections, the Enforcement Department (ED) raided Chhattisgarh on Thursday in an effort to disrupt the money laundering networks connected to the Mahadev online betting app. The ED is currently investigating the online betting app in accordance with the anti-money laundering law.
The organization claimed to have successfully apprehended Asim Das, a cash courier who had purportedly been dispatched from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the express purpose of delivering a sizeable quantity of cash. Asim Das was found to have ₹5.39 crore taken from both his house and car. Additionally, the agency shared images of the enormous cash seizure on social media.
A network of Benami bank accounts worth an astounding ₹15.59 crore was discovered by the ED during the investigation and linked to the Mahadev app. These accounts have been frozen as part of the continuing probe.
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According to the ED, Das admitted that the money that had been intercepted had been planned by the producers of the Mahadev betting app to be given to a well-known politician called “Baghel” in order to pay for the state’s impending election costs. He disclosed that Bhupesh Baghel, the chief minister of Chhattisgarh, had reportedly received regular payments from promoters of the Mahadev Book App in the past, totaling almost ₹508 crore, the agency further claimed.
Constable Bheem Yadav, who was charged with being a major go-between in the purported money laundering operation, was also taken into custody by the ED. The investigation revealed that Yadav had made unapproved travels to Dubai over the previous three years and had admitted to meeting with the primary developers of the Mahadev app, Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal.
Additionally, he acknowledged that he had attended prestigious events arranged by the Mahadev app, with his travel expenses paid for by M/s Rapid Travels, the corporation in charge of all ticketing for the promoters of the Mahadev app as well as their families, friends, and celebrities.
In order to independently authenticate Asim Das’s surprising confessions and get evidence pertaining to money laundering, the ED hauled both him and Police Constable Bheem Yadav before the Special Judge in Raipur. Then, for a seven-day period, the judge remanded them to ED custody.
