Why Mahadev app not banned by Centre and Chhattisgarh governments? asks Bhupesh Baghel

Raipur: Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday slammed BJP MP Santosh Pandey for his statement in Lok Sabha over the alleged Mahadev app scam and wondered why the betting platform had not been banned by the BJP-led Central and state governments.

The senior Congress leader said he would write a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker against Pandey who made baseless allegations in Parliament.

Earlier in the day, Pandey, representing Rajnandgaon parliamentary seat in Chhattisgarh, in a veiled attack on Baghel accused him of operating a betting operation worth over Rs 6,000 crore in the name of Lord Mahadev during his tenure as Chief Minister.

In response, Baghel stated that when he was heading the state government (2018-2023), more than 70 FIRs were registered, hundreds of individuals were arrested, and assets including money, mobiles, and laptops worth crores were seized in connection with the Mahadev online betting app.

"Rajnandgaon MP Pandey has levelled serious allegations against me in Parliament saying the former CM was operating betting worth Rs 6,000 crore through the Mahadev app. The allegation is baseless," he stated.

The government has changed, but the Mahadev app is still operational even though the BJP is in power in the state and Centre. Are they now going to name it 'Vishnu Deo Sai app'? he questioned while targeting Chief Minister Sai.

Even though the BJP is in power at the Centre and state, the app is yet to be banned and it is still operational, Baghel added.

"We (the previous Congress government) had issued a lookout circular (against the promoters of the app). They (the app's promoters) are in a foreign country and it (BJP-led Centre) is not able to catch and repatriate them," he said.

Baghel also mentioned his plans to seek legal advice and take further action accordingly.

"I will write a letter to the Speaker of Lok Sabha about the baseless allegations being raised against a person who is not a member of the House," he added.

Notably, Chhattisgarh's Economic Offence Wing/Anti Corruption Bureau has named Baghel, along with the app's promoters Ravi Uppal, Saurabh Chandrakar, Shubham Soni, Anil Kumar Agrawal, and 14 others as accused in the betting app scandal.

The newly-elected BJP government lodged the case in March based on a report by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has been probing the money laundering aspect of the case for over a year.

The ED has filed three charge sheets in the Mahadev app-related money laundering case in Raipur court, including against the main promoters Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal. Multiple raids were conducted by the ED in connection with the case in Chhattisgarh.

The ED's investigation revealed the involvement of various high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh, where Chandrakar and Uppal hail from.

According to the ED, the Mahadev online gaming and betting app is an umbrella syndicate that arranges online platforms for illegal betting websites, enrols new users, creates user IDs, and launders money through a complex web of benami bank accounts.

The ED has arrested 11 persons so far. The two main promoters of the app were stated to have been detained in Dubai based on Interpol's red notice on ED's request.

Bhupesh Baghel had earlier termed the ED's action in the Mahadev betting app case as a "political conspiracy" and accused the federal agency of acting at the behest of its "political masters".