Mahadev betting app still active, ED tells court
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) told a special PMLA court in Raipur that the Mahadev online betting app and related websites generated about Rs 94,400 crore in illegal earnings over the past 10 years.
In its sixth prosecution complaint, filed recently, the ED named 42 people and companies as accused and said the main platform is still active, running many panels.
The case started in October 2022 after the ED reviewed police FIRs from Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and West Bengal. So far, the agency has named 116 accused in six chargesheets, arrested 14 people, and searched around 190 locations.
Separate CBI investigations have called this network one of the biggest illegal betting syndicates found in India.
Investigators identified two men from Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, Saurabh Chandrakar, a former juice shop owner, and Ravi Uppal, as the main promoters. They started Mahadev Online Book around 2018 and later operated it from Dubai. Both are still on the run.
Interpol has issued Red Corner Notices, and proceedings for fugitive economic offenders have begun. Chandrakar was later reported in Oman, and extradition efforts are ongoing. Both men deny founding or promoting the app.
Mahadev was not just one site but a group of illegal betting websites hosted overseas. Related platforms include Skyexchange.com, which the ED links to Dubai-based Hari Shankar Tibrewal and has operated since 2016, as well as Lotus365, Reddy Anna, FairPlay, Laser247, Tiger Exchange, and Gold365.
The latest complaint says Mahadev alone generated Rs 75,000 to 80,000 crore since 2019, Skyexchange made Rs 11,000 to 12,000 crore, and Lotus365 about Rs 2,400 crore.
The syndicate used a franchise panel model. Local operators across India found customers, created IDs, collected deposits, and ran bets on sports and games like cricket, football, tennis, badminton, poker, teen patti, and other games of chance.
Promoters reportedly kept 70 to 75 per cent of the profits. They advertised through private WhatsApp, Telegram, and Facebook groups, promising quick money. Users got different numbers for deposits and withdrawals.
Investigators say the games were set up to make customers lose money over time.
Earlier estimates said 2,000 to 3,200 active panels generated about Rs 11,400 crore each year.
The money moved through thousands of mule bank accounts opened with other people’s KYC documents, and then through hawala, cryptocurrency, and shell companies.
The funds were used to buy luxury property in Dubai, including assets linked to the Burj Khalifa, and were also invested in Indian equity markets through foreign portfolio investments.
The latest chargesheet names high-profile people like EBIX chairman Vikas Garg, who was arrested in July 2026 after authorities seized assets worth about Rs 940.77 crore, and EaseMyTrip co-founder Nishant Pitti, whose demat shares worth Rs 59.60 crore were attached.
The ED claims Pitti helped move betting money into the stock market and was close to SkyExchange’s alleged owner. Pitti has said he did not know about the chargesheet.
Total assets attached during the investigation have ranged from about Rs 1,885 crore to over Rs 4,300 crore at different times.
The ED has claimed that the racket had support from local police and politicians in Chhattisgarh, and that bureaucrats and politically connected people received illegal payments.
The CBI has filed related corruption chargesheets. Despite years of raids, the agency told the court that the Mahadev platform is still active. Mirror sites, changing domains, and encrypted groups have helped the franchise network survive.
A huge gap remains between the estimated illegal earnings and the assets recovered. The main question now is whether the Raipur court proceedings, more asset attachments, and extradition efforts can close that gap, or if the panels will keep operating.
This remains at the heart of one of India’s biggest illegal betting investigations, sources in the ED said on Thursday.
