The Mahadev Betting App case revolves around a sprawling illegal online gambling network operated by Dubai-based promoters, who allegedly funnelled illicit betting proceeds—estimated to be in the thousands of crores—through shell entities and financial markets to launder money. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has carried out over 170 raids in connection with the Mahadev Betting App investigation, leading to the seizure or attachment of assets worth ₹3,002.47 crore, and has flagged suspicious stock manipulations to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
What is the Mahadev betting app case?
The Mahadev Betting App case concerns an online gambling platform—branded “Mahadev” or “Mahadev Book”—that offered illegal betting on games ranging from poker and card games to cricket and football. Promoters Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, operating from Dubai, allegedly ran large call centres throughout India, enrolling users and collecting billions in stakes daily. Under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ED’s probe is focused on the laundering of betting proceeds offshore by the promoters through a complex web of benami bank accounts and investments in the stock market via the FPI route from Mauritius and the UAE.
What is the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister’s involvement in the case?
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has named former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel as one of the accused in the Mahadev Betting app case on December 18, 2023. An ED “cash courier” testified that ₹5.39 crore was delivered to Baghel as kickbacks to “protect” the betting operations, allegations which he vehemently denies as politically motivated. CBI raids at over 60 locations included searches of Baghel’s residences, and his phones were seized during a 14-hour search on March 26, 2025.
What are the ED’s findings?
The ED’s latest searches revealed that funds had been funnelled into certain small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to cause “artificial price fluctuations” and defraud retail investors. The agency has frozen securities, bonds, and demat accounts valued at over ₹573 crore and seized ₹3.29 crore in cash. The trail showed that money entered the stock market via the foreign portfolio investor (FPI) route linked to a Dubai-based hawala operator—prompting additional freezes of shares. The ED conducted operations across Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Indore, Jaipur, Chennai, and other cities, targeting call centres, shell firms, and properties linked to the promoters.
Why is SEBI probing this case?
SEBI is investigating listed companies linked to the ongoing Mahadev Betting App case, having found instances of violations, including alleged stock manipulation and the illicit routing of betting proceeds into the equity markets through the foreign portfolio investor (FPI) route after ED formally flagged the case. If further investigation substantiates potential stock manipulation and breaches of FPI norms, SEBI will take action against the implicated companies and individuals. The investigation is now focused on uncovering the modus operandi of stock price manipulation by these listed companies.
How is money being laundered through stock markets?
A network of benami bank and demat accounts has been used to facilitate the layering of transactions. Illicit betting proceeds were routed through Mauritius- and Dubai-based shell firms designated as FPIs into smaller companies and thinly traded stocks. The promoters of some of these companies used the betting proceeds to invest in their own firms under the guise of preferential share issues, sale of promoter-controlled shares, and issuance of share warrants, in order to inflate share prices with the help of a string of agents and middlemen. Once valuations rose, the promoters sold off their holdings at a profit, cycling the money back as “clean” proceeds.