Sourabh Chandrakar, the fugitive co-founder of the multi-thousand-crore Mahadev online betting syndicate, has been brought back to India from Oman, marking a breakthrough in one of the country’s largest financial crime investigations. A CBI team specially deputed to Oman has escorted him back to India. He will now be produced before the CBI Special Court in Raipur.
Chandrakar (30s, Chhattisgarh, Bhilai) went from being a juice shop owner (and previously a clothes salesman) to one of India’s most wanted economic offenders. In 2018, he co-founded Mahadev Online Books with Ravi Uppal of Bhilai. What started as an online betting platform rapidly grew into a massive international syndicate.
Based in Dubai, they ran illegal betting through several platforms and domain names (Tiger Exchange, Gold365, Laser247, etc.). It was a franchise-style operation with thousands of panels and branches across India, taking bets on sports, card games, and even election results.
Investigators from the ED and the CBI have described the operation as massive. Initial estimates were of the proceeds of crime at around Rs 6,000 crore. The ED has since claimed the figure was much higher, with Rs 240 crore a day at peak and cumulative proceeds of over Rs 90,000 crore over the years.
The syndicate is alleged to have laundered money via hawala, mule accounts and overseas property and also paid protection money to public functionaries.
The case has involved several senior politicians and bureaucrats from the previous Chhattisgarh government. Chandrakar’s lifestyle became the embodiment of the loot, with the Rs 200 crore wedding in the UAE as the most prominent example (complete with private jets for the guests), and the ED has attached assets worth around Rs 1,700 crore (properties in Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, among others).
Both promoters left India in 2019. Chandrakar was briefly detained in Dubai on an Interpol Red Notice, but India’s extradition request failed. He later moved to Oman in 2026, reportedly using a false Indonesian passport. However, the Royal Oman Police detained him in June 2026 on the Red Corner Notice.
India (which has an extradition treaty with Oman) formally requested his return. In contrast, the UAE has a competing request and a local Omani case over the fake passport, which could all delay the process.
Co-founder Ravi Uppal remains at large, and reports say he is in Vanuatu.
Indian agencies on Sunday confirmed that Chandrakar has returned from Oman. That follows months of diplomatic and legal wrangling. The return is part of the ongoing probe, with the CBI and ED having filed several charge sheets naming several accused, including panel operators, hawala men and public servants.
An aide, Abhishek Kumar, was arrested recently upon his arrival in India from Dubai. Chandrakar’s return is expected to help the investigation by giving a clearer view of the network, its political links, and how money moved.
The Mahadev case has become a classic example of a probe into offshore betting syndicates that were operating from abroad and specifically targeting Indian users. With one of the key masterminds now back in India, there is a real opportunity to take down the remaining operations and pursue the remaining co-accused.