Ravi Uppal, co-founder of Mahadev online betting app and key accused in multi-crore illegal betting syndicate, has been arrested in Dubai, officials familiar with the development said on Wednesday, terming it another “major breakthrough” in the case within a week.
“We have learnt from reliable sources that Ravi Uppal has been arrested in Dubai. It is a major breakthrough.
We will try to get him extradited from the UAE as soon as possible,” said an Indian government official, who didn’t want to be named. ED’s court and internal documents, seen by HT, reveal that while Chandrakar primarily handled the promotion and operations of Mahadev Online Book or mob, Uppal ran the head office with him in Dubai and managed “the financial network, including hawala deliveries and betting operators in Nagpur”. ED has claimed that Mahadev app’s systematic operation ran locally with the “active support and connivance” of local police and politicians from Chhattisgarh and that “the bureaucrats and politically exposed persons have been receiving illegal gratification for turning a blind eye to this illegal betting racket”.
The arrest comes days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) secured the extradition of his business partner and the syndicate’s other alleged mastermind, Sourabh Chandrakar, from Oman.
