Bhupesh Baghel in trouble? Chhattisgarh government reportedly recommends CBI probe into Mahadev betting app case

News from Raipur: Senior Congress MP and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel seems to be in trouble as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state led by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai has reportedly recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Mahadev betting app case. In January, Baghel was named in a supplementary chargesheet filed by the ED on allegations of accepting bribes of around Rs 508 crore from the Mahadev app promoters in the UAE.

A report in the Hindustan Times, citing people familiar with the matter, said the CBI will “soon” open a case based on the Chhattisgarh police's First Information Report (FIR) of March 4, which names Baghel as an accused along with Mahadev app promoters Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal.

This development came days after Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma said on Wednesday that the Chief Minister Sai-led government was considering transferring the cases filed in connection with the Mahadev betting app “scam” to the state investigation agency.

Mahadev betting app case

After the BJP came to power in the state, the EOW filed an FIR under sections 120b (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating) and the Prevention of Corruption Act of the Indian Penal Code in March based on a report submitted to it by the ED. Around 70 cases related to the alleged scam have been registered with the state Economic Offences Authority (EOW) and various police stations. Former chief minister and senior Congress MP Bhupesh Baghel, app initiators Ravi Uppal, Saurabh Chandrakar, Shubham Soni and Anil Kumar Agrawal and 14 others have been named as accused in the EOW's FIR. Baghel termed the FIR “politically motivated”.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also been investigating money laundering cases related to the Mahadev app for over a year, which came to light during the previous Congress government in the state. The ED claims that its investigation has uncovered the involvement of various senior politicians and bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh. Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, notably, are from Chhattisgarh.

According to the investigating agency, the app was an umbrella syndicate that arranged online platforms that enabled illegal betting websites to register new users, create user IDs and launder money through a multi-layered web of 'benami' bank accounts. The ED has so far arrested a total of 11 people in the case. The estimated proceeds from the crimes are around Rs 6,000 crore, according to the central agency.