RAIPUR: Sourabh Chandrakar, a key accused in the Mahadev Online Book betting and money laundering case, was extradited from Oman on Sunday, officials said, in a development that could help unlock critical leads in one of India's largest financial fraud investigations.
Chandrakar's return comes as the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation probe a network estimated to have generated proceeds of crime of around Rs 94,000 crore. Agencies hope the extradited accused, who had previously expressed willingness to cooperate before fleeing India, will shed light on sensitive aspects of the case that have remained unresolved.
The Enforcement Directorate has moved a special court in Raipur seeking to expedite its pending application for declaring Chandrakar a fugitive economic offender under the FEO Act. This action could enable the agency to confiscate his attached properties worth over Rs 1,800 crore, mostly located in Dubai. The ED's application has been pending since November 2024, with the next hearing scheduled for December 5.
The case involves 116 accused, including former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, senior police officers and officials who held top positions in the Chhattisgarh administration. Allegations include that proceeds from the betting network were used to fund elections and share 'protection money' with bureaucrats and politicians for its uninterrupted operation.
Chandrakar's background highlights the scale of the alleged transformation. The son of a municipal corporation employee, he previously worked at a juice shop in Bhilai earning about Rs 15,000 a month before venturing into online betting. Within a few years, he was living in Dubai's luxury villas and travelling by chartered aircraft. Investigators estimate he spent an astonishing Rs 200 crore on his wedding.
The Mahadev Online Book empire grew out of Chhattisgarh and became one of India's biggest laundering investigations. In December, the CBI registered an FIR naming Baghel as an accused and carried out searches at his residence. Earlier, in March, the Raipur Police's EOW, acting on a reference from the ED, registered an FIR against Baghel naming him as one of the accused, along with promoters of the Mahadev app.
In 2023, the ED carried out searches at the residence of Vinod Verma, political adviser to the then CM. The agency also stated that another accused, ASI Chandrabhushan Verma, through Vinod Verma and money sent by co-accused Ravi Uppal, corrupted the police system at Raipur and Durg. Chandrabhushan's statement records that hawala proceeds collected from Nagpur reached a close friend of the then CM and two officers on special duty to the CM.
BJP had made the Mahadev app case one of its central planks against Congress in the 2023 assembly polls. Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised the then governing Congress for not even sparing 'Mahadev' in looting people.
The extradition and the ongoing investigations underscore the scale of the probe into what has been described as one of India's most significant betting and money laundering networks.
