Chhattisgarh ex-CM Bhupesh Baghel a ‘beneficiary’ of Mahadev app scam, claims CBI

The Central Bureau of Investigation has named Chhattisgarh’s former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in its first information report in the alleged Mahadev betting app case, reported PTI on Tuesday.

The promoters of the Mahadev Online Book have claimed that Baghel was one of the “beneficiaries” of the betting fund, the news agency reported.

This came a week after the central agency conducted searches at 60 locations across the country, including properties belonging to Congress leader Baghel, in connection with the case.

Mahadev Online Book, a betting app, reportedly enabled illegal betting on games such as poker, cricket, tennis and football as well as on elections in India. In November 2023, the Union government issued orders blocking the app.

In March 2024, the Chhattisgarh Police filed an FIR naming Baghel as an accused in the Mahadev betting app case. According to the FIR, the Mahadev app and its associate companies illegally collected Rs 450 crore worth of proceeds of crime every month.

In August, the Chhattisgarh government transferred the probe in the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The central agency in its FIR stated that the Enforcement Directorate had arrested an alleged cash courier, Asim Das, in November 2023 and seized Rs 5.3 crore cash from his home.

The CBI claimed that it had obtained a voice note from Das’s phone shared...

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