Did Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel advise Mahadev betting app owner to flee to Dubai?

The Mahadev betting app, already making news in India, is now at the centre of a major political storm in poll-bound Chhattisgarh. The state of Chhattisgarh will go to polls in the first phase of voting tomorrow (7 November), and if allegations and investigations are true, it could spell trouble for Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel of the Congress party. This news comes a day after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) blocked the Mahadev betting app along with 21 other websites and apps. “The action follows investigations conducted by the Enforcement Directorate against illegal betting app syndicate and subsequent raids on Mahadev Book in Chhattisgarh, revealing the app’s unlawful operations,” the government said. Let’s take a closer look at how Baghel has been drawn into the Mahadev betting app case and whether it will spell trouble for the CM in the poll-bound state. ‘Baghel advised me to go to Dubai’ and more On Sunday (5 November), a man named Shubham Soni, who claims to be the owner of the Mahadev app, made explosive allegations against Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel. In a video to the Enforcement Directorate, Soni stated that he went to Dubai on the advice of Baghel and that he has been giving “protection money” to Chhattisgarh politicians and police to protect his men. In the video message, he further alleged that he had a meeting with Baghel after it was arranged by Vinod Verma, a political advisor to the Chhattisgarh chief minister. [caption id=“attachment_13352022” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A man identifying himself as Shubham Soni has claimed he is the owner of the Mahadev Book betting app. In a video, he alleges that he had “proof” of paying Rs 508 crore so far to Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel. Image Courtesy: @BJP4India/X[/caption] Soni added that he was the owner of the Mahadev betting app and had founded it in 2021 from Bhilai, adding that Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal (alleged kingpins of the scam) are his advisors. “I started the app in 2021, and my gambling business in Bhilai was doing well. It started small but grew bigger, and we had more money. People started to notice. When my friends got into trouble, I started paying Verma ji (Vinod Verma) Rs 10 lakh every month for protection,” he says in the video, as reported by India Today. With the passage of time, his gambling business continued to grow but his associates were still getting arrested. In order to resolve this issue, Soni – in the video – claims that he then returned to Chhattisgarh and met with the Superintendent of Police Prashant Agrawal. He claims that he then met with CM Baghel in Raipur and was asked to give the CM Rs 508 crore. “I did what Prashant ji told me, including giving Rs 508 crore. However, I’m still facing problems. I’ve given all the details in my written statement. I need help to get out of this situation in the political system and return to India,” he said at the end of his video message, which the BJP has shared on its X handle. These allegations came after officials from the Enforcement Directorate arrested a courier with Rs 5 crore in cash, who alleged that promoters of the Mahadev betting app had made payments of Rs 508 crore to Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel. The agency has said: “This fact needs to be independently corroborated by this Directorate.” According to the ED, the courier, identified as Asim Das, was intercepted after they received a tip-off that a large amount of cash was being moved in Chhattisgarh by the promoters of the Mahadev App ahead of the elections in the state. The ED on Friday said: The agency conducted searches at Hotel Triton and another location in Bhilai and successfully intercepted a cash courier. Asim Das, who was sent from the United Arab Emirates especially to deliver (a) large amount of cash for electioneering expenses of the ruling Congress party. The ED stated that they had recovered Rs 5.39 crore from Das’ car and house and that he had admitted to them that the money had been arranged by the promoters of Mahadev app and had to be delivered to “a politician ‘Baghel’ for the upcoming election expenses in state of Chhattisgarh”. In addition to the arrest of Das, the ED also arrested a Constable Bheem Yadav, who “unauthorisedly” travelled several times to Dubai in the past three years and allegedly acted as a “conduit” to receive bribe money from the app promoters on behalf of senior officers and politicians in the state. According to the ED statement, the constable met Uppal and Chandrakar and participated in functions organised by the Mahadev app. His travel expenses were borne by M/s Rapid Travels of Ahuja Brothers, which the ED claimed was a money laundering and ticketing company of the Mahadev App. Baghel’s election chances hurt The allegations against Baghel have provided the BJP with the right fodder to attack the Congress leader, just a day before the state goes to the polls. BJP president JP Nadda taking aim at the Congress, said: “They (Congress government) have not even spared ‘Mahadev’. “Satta (power) ke liye Satta (betting). A person who came from Dubai was arrested here and he said that I have brought Rs 800 crore to give to CM Bhupesh Baghel. Do you want such a corrupt government here? Bhupesh Baghel, Ashok Gehlot and Kamal Nath are collectors of Congress family. They collect money for them…” Nadda alleged. His statement came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi also made similar remarks, asking the party and its chief minister to clarify their connections with the betting app people. Union Minister Smriti Irani also took aim at Baghel, saying that he would now be operated by a remote control from Dubai, apparently hinting at his alleged connection with the UAE-based promoters of Mahadev betting app. “I am surprised. I did not know that for the sake of securing power, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel will now be operated by the remote control of Dubai. Till now it was said that the remote was from Italy, but now it has come to light that a remote is also lying in Dubai A phone rings, the man runs fast and is caught with crores of rupees,” she said. [caption id=“attachment_13352082” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel has refuted all allegations, and called the entire thing a “joke”. File image/PTI[/caption] Baghel hits back The chief minister has refused to remain silent on the matter, and has hit back at the BJP. “As I said earlier, BJP wants to fight elections by using central agencies like Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax etc. Just before elections, an ugly attempt is made to spoil my image. This is a political attempt to defame the popular Congress government through ED’s medium. Earlier, in the Mahadev app case, ED defamed people close to me by raiding their homes, and now, suddenly, based on a person’s statement, they have made an allegation of me taking Rs 508 crore,” he was quoted as saying to Indian Express.

आज कुछ समाचार चैनलों ने एक वीडियो दिखाया है जिसमें एक व्यक्ति यह दावा कर रहा है कि वह मुझसे मिला और मैंने उसे संरक्षण देने का आश्वासन दिया और उसे दुबई जाकर व्यवसाय करने का भी सुझाव दिया.

मुझे आश्चर्य है कि एक अनजान व्यक्ति के बयान को सभी ज़िम्मेदार टीवी चैनल किस आधार पर चला रहे…

— Bhupesh Baghel (@bhupeshbaghel) November 5, 2023

Earlier too, he was quoted as calling all the allegations as “a joke”. “You can force anyone by thrashing or pressurising him to extract any statement naming the chief minister. What if I catch someone and force him to name the prime minister in a case? Does it mean that the PM needs to be questioned?” reported the Times of India. The Congress’ state communication wing president Sushi Anand Shukla also termed the entire incident as a conspiracy by the BJP. “The BJP has failed to take on the Congress in the state and therefore, it has resorted to such conspiracies. Anyone can release a video and claim himself to be the owner of Mahadev app while Saurabh Chandrakar is said to be the main accused in the case. People of Chhattisgarh will teach a lesson to BJP in the elections,” Shukla said. With inputs from agencies