New Delhi: Sourabh Chandrakar, one of the fugitive promoters of the illegal betting application Mahadev Online Book, has been brought back to India from Oman after his extradition, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) spokesperson said. The central agency, which was coordinating the process, sent a special team to Oman to escort him to India, the spokesperson added.
Facing scores of cases across the country, primarily filed by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Chandrakar is being taken to Raipur, where he will be produced before a CBI court. “He is wanted in two CBI cases in which chargesheets have already been filed and an ED case in which a prosecution complaint has been filed,” the agency spokesperson said.
ThePrint had earlier reported that Chandrakar was detained by the Royal Oman Police in June this year on an Interpol Red Corner Notice, prompting the CBI and ED to immediately send formal extradition proposals to the sultanate.
“The extradition request was pursued in close coordination with the agencies of the Government of India and the Interpol National Central Bureau, and with the support of the competent authorities of the Sultanate of Oman,” an agency spokesperson said. “Upon his extradition being granted, a CBI team travelled to Muscat and escorted him back to India.”
Mahadev Online Book, a mobile app, provides a platform for alleged illegal betting on live games such as poker, other card games, and chance games, as well as virtual cricket, badminton, tennis, and football, among others.
Also Read: CBI arrests Mahadev betting app kingpin upon arrival from Dubai
Juice shop to illegal betting
Chandrakar, who owned a juice shop in Chhattisgarh’s Bhilai district until 2017, made headlines in 2023 when the ED uncovered alleged illegal financial dealings following his lavish Dubai wedding. According to the estimates submitted in its prosecution complaint, Chandrakar spent a whopping Rs 200 crore in cash on his wedding in Ras Al Khaimah, the United Arab Emirates. Around Rs 37 crore was spent solely on ticket-booking and ferrying celebrities, including those from India, who were invited as guests or to perform at the wedding.
Along with Ravi Uppal, who also belongs to Bhilai, Chandrakar set up Mahadev Online Book during the Covid-19 pandemic and allegedly created a web of online gambling and pyramid schemes to siphon off funds. According to a probe by the agencies, money “swindled” from people who joined the platform in the name of games was diverted to Uppal and Chandrakar through hawala channels.
Months before the ED initiated a money laundering probe, in October 2022, Chandrakar fled India on 16 February 2022. In its probe, the agency found that he led the operations of the Mahadev Online Book app from a Dubai office, which doubled up as his residence. The ED had also sent an extradition request in October 2024, but efforts to arrest him did not materialise until this year, when he was detained in Oman on 18 June. India had sent a fresh extradition request on 8 July this year.
The Enforcement Directorate has pegged the proceeds of crime generated by Mahadev Online Book at Rs 75,000 crore.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
Also Read: Mahadev app still active, generated over Rs 94,000 cr from illegal betting: ED