New Delhi: Seeking the custodial remand of Mahadev Online Book promoter Sourabh Chandrakar, the Enforcement Directorate told a Raipur court that betting operations on the app continued even after the first prosecution complaint was filed in October 2023, and that the proceeds of crime from the illegal operations had shot up from Rs 10,000 crore then to approximately Rs 92,000 crore now.
A prosecution complaint is the agency’s version of the chargesheet.
Chandrakar, the alleged ‘kingpin’ in the Mahadev betting app cheating case and the app’s promoter, was arrested by ED Friday in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur. He was remanded in the agency’s custody till 19 November by a special court under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). This comes after the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested him in New Delhi upon his extradition from Oman on 1 November, following which he was sent to CBI’s custody and then judicial custody.
The operations of the Mahadev Online Book continued even after Chandrakar’s extradition, as the CBI found in its sweeping raids across 33 locations in six states belonging to panel operators.
“The searches were carried out on the basis of disclosures made by the key accused Sourabh Chandrakar, one of the principal promoters of the platform, after his extradition from the Sultanate of Oman,” the agency spokesperson said Saturday. “During these searches, live betting and gambling panels were found running and were dismantled.”
Cities where searches were conducted included Amritsar, Delhi, Nagaur, Dholpur, Bhopal, Raipur, Durg, Indore, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Mumbai & Nagpur.
Before the court Friday, the agency alleged Chandrakar’s active involvement in the betting operations, citing statements from co-accused, including one Rajat Kumar Singh, who had received multiple calls from him in July 2025 at the time of the agency’s raids. ED alleged that Chandrakar personally operated 8-10 panels of the betting application, out of the nearly three dozen operating from Dubai.
Mahadev Online Book is a mobile app, providing a platform for alleged illegal betting on live games, such as poker, and other card games and chance games, as well as virtual cricket, badminton, tennis and football, among others.
The ED has found that the Mahadev app promoters allowed users to bet on outcomes of games, such as poker, cricket, badminton, tennis, football, as well as virtual sports and election results. Additionally, they created other platforms, such as Reddy Anna and Fair Play, and were involved with various other online betting sites that operate on similar lines.
Gambling and betting are illegal in India, including under the Public Gambling Act, 1867.
Chandrakar and other Mahadev app promoters had created a pool of mule accounts, opened with KYC documents fraudulently obtained from the public, to pool the proceeds from illegal betting operations, ED has found so far. Chandrakar and Uppal were allegedly leading the operations from Dubai with the help of their relatives and associates.
The agency further claims that Chandrakar formed a pyramidal network in which betting panels are franchised for a large security deposit, and that the promoters get 70 percent of the profits—a model that allowed them to remotely control the reins, while his associates in Chhattisgarh managed the panels on ground. They managed to lure a large number of youth into betting through lavish parties, hiring celebrities for endorsements, and sponsoring shows.
The special PMLA court in Raipur sent Chandrakar to ED’s custody for seven days after the Raipur Zonal office produced him on a production warrant. He was already in jail after CBI arrested him at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi earlier this month.
What happened in court
Justifying Chandrakar’s arrest, ED’s investigating officer submitted before court that according to the prosecution complaint filed on 20 October, 2023, total proceeds of crime in the case were estimated to be about Rs 10,000-11,000 crore.
It added that as per the fifth supplementary prosecution complaint, dated 10 September, 2026, the total proceeds of crime generated in the case by Mahadev Online Book App and its connected entities stood at more than Rs 92,000 crore approximately, “which clearly shows a huge growth in proceeds of crime.”
Apart from the exponential jump in the scale of operations and proceeds of crime, the agency also informed the court about the emergence of new facts—accumulation of foreign assets by Chandrakar and his associates, and the role played by other similar platforms, such as SkyExchange and Lotus365.
The ED made these submissions as Chandrakar’s counsel Tushar Giri challenged his arrest, arguing that the agency had already filed a chargesheet against the man who had risen from a juice shop in Bhilai to become a high-value fugitive.
The agency further argued that the Supreme Court’s judgement in Tarsem Lal’s case against itself—which barred the arrest of an accused after the chargesheet stage, if the accused was charged without being arrested—did not prevent Chandrakar’s arrest. The agency contended that the judgement only applied to accused persons who appeared before Special Courts in response to summons.
It drew the court’s attention to judicial proceedings in the case, such as the issuance of an open-ended arrest warrant against Chandrakar, and his subsequent arrest and production before court only after extradition from Oman.
“…It is submitted that the accused Sourabh Chandrakar is the co-owner and promoter of Mahadev Online Book App and main architect and this whole illegal betting empire related to Mahadev Online Book App and its connected entities has been established by him,” the agency’s officer told the court.
He added that Chandrakar is “involved in criminal activities related to scheduled offence generated proceeds of crime to the tune of thousands of crores of rupees”, and that the investigation against the accused “cannot be completed without his custodial interrogation”.
This is an updated version of the report.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)