Custodial interrogation of Saurabh Chandrakar, the alleged mastermind of the ₹ 6,000-crore Mahadev online betting syndicate, is crucial to identify police and administrative officials in Chhattisgarh who allegedly received huge amounts as money to allow the illegal operations to continue, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told a special court.
The CBI alleged that Chandrakar, other promoters and associates of Mahadev Book secured the protection of police and administrative officials and influential politicians by regularly paying them. It permitted the agency to take him to Delhi for interrogation. Police officers and employees were also allegedly engaged to channel these payments to police and administrative officials. The CBI alleged that police and administrative officials and influential political persons misused their positions to obtain illegal financial benefits and subsequently acquired assets from such proceeds.
The special court in Raipur on Wednesday granted the CBI eight days of custody of Chandrakar, who was extradited from Oman on November 1. In August 2024, the state government transferred cases related to the alleged betting scam registered at various police stations, along with an EOW case, to the CBI.
The CBI said hawala operators were used to arrange and distribute the alleged protection money.
Following his extradition from Oman, he was brought to Raipur in a private aircraft on Tuesday evening for production before the trial court. Chandrakar left India in 2022 to evade the process of law and deliberately remained abroad without joining the investigation, according to the CBI.
