ED arrests 2 more in Mahadev betting app case

The agency has identified those arrested on Friday as Nitin Tibrewal, a resident of Kolkata in West Bengal, and Amit Agrawal, a resident of Raipur, the capital city of Chhattisgarh.

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested two more people in connection with its money laundering probe into the Mahadev online betting and gaming app case even as efforts were being made to bring the main promoters, Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, from the UAE, people familiar with the development said on Saturday.

The agency has identified those arrested on Friday as Nitin Tibrewal, a resident of Kolkata in West Bengal, and Amit Agrawal, a resident of Raipur, the capital city of Chhattisgarh.

Niten Tibrewal, ED said, is the majority shareholder of a company, Techpro IT Solutions Ltd, which was allegedly acting as front for Mahadev Online Book and investing the proceeds of crime generated out of illegal operations in India by way of Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI).

“Nitin Tibrewal tried to conceal this fact despite multiple opportunities granted to him. He also did not reveal his foreign bank accounts and assets before ED which have been discovered by ED during the course of investigations. Thus, Tibrewal was found to be knowingly assisting in layering the proceeds of crime by investing it in his name and through associated Indian and foreign entities,” the federal agency said in a statement on Saturday.

Agrawal is the brother of Anil Kumar Agrawal, who is also a partner in Mahadev Online Book, ED said.

“Agrawal has knowingly utilised the proceeds of crime emanating out of Mahadev Online Book in purchasing assets in his name and his wife’s name. To fund these purchases, Agrawal arranged entries totalling ₹2.5 crore in his and his wife’s bank accounts against cash,” ED said. “In the statements recorded before ED, he maintained these bank entries are loans, however, the entry operator involved in the transactions revealed the truth. Thus, Agrawal was found to be knowingly assisting in concealing the proceeds of crime emanating out of the betting operations of Mahadev Online Book.”

ED had earlier arrested alleged cash courier Asim Das, police constable Bheem Singh Yadav, assistant sub-inspector Chandrabhushan Verma, alleged hawala operator brothers – Anil and Sunil Dammani — and a man identified as Satish Chandrakar in connection with the case.

It has also alleged that funds generated by the app were used to pay bribes to politicians and bureaucrats in Chhattisgarh, where the sensational case had become the major political issue ahead of the assembly polls in November last year.

So far, ED has filed two charge sheets in the case, including the one against the main promoters — Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal — of the illegal betting and gaming app, among others.

The two were recently detained in Dubai based on Interpol red notices issued at the behest of ED and the agency is trying to have them deported or extradited to India. A formal request in this regard has already been sent, officials said.

ED has alleged in its charge sheet that Chandrakar got married at Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, in February 2023 and about ₹200 crore in cash was spent for this event and private jets were hired to ferry his relatives from India to the UAE and celebrities were paid to perform at the wedding.

The projected proceeds of crime in the case are about ₹6,000 crore, according to the federal agency. So far, assets worth ₹572.41 crore have been seized or frozen by ED in the case.

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