Two months after launching an investigation into the Mahadev online betting app scandal, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday initiated raids at several locations in Chhattisgarh, including the residence of former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, sources familiar with the development said. The CBI is probing a broader conspiracy in the ₹6,000 crore betting scam. As reported by HT on January 21, the CBI had registered a case at the request of the Chhattisgarh government, with Baghel under scrutiny.
The CBI had registered a regular case (First Information Report or FIR) by consolidating 77 FIRs from various police stations and the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Chhattisgarh.
Baghel was named as an accused in an FIR filed by Chhattisgarh Police on March 4, 2024, alongside Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, the fugitive founders of Mahadev, whose extraditions are being pursued from the United Arab Emirates. The CBI has also taken over this FIR. In the Mahadev probe,
Baghel has previously defended himself, stating that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state “forcefully” added his name. As reported earlier by HT, the Chhattisgarh government recommended a CBI investigation into the Mahadev case in August 2024, roughly nine months after the BJP displaced the Congress in power.
Between August 2024 and January 2025, the CBI focused on consolidating voluminous case documents, including FIRs, charge sheets filed by the state police, and court documents, before formally registering the case in January.
In a charge sheet filed in July 2024, the EOW of Chhattisgarh Police stated that the Mahadev service was still operational and that its promoters had secured protection from various police, administrative officials, and influential political figures to shield their criminal activities related to online betting.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is conducting a money laundering investigation, has alleged that Chandrakar and Uppal paid bribes totaling ₹508 crore to former CM Baghel. The Chhattisgarh Police filed the FIR naming Baghel at the ED’s reference.
The agency claims the Mahadev online betting app syndicate, which began in 2018, saw Chandrakar and Uppal remotely running illegal betting operations. The syndicate’s proceeds ran into several thousand crores, enabling illegal betting on live games like poker, card games, chance games, cricket, badminton, tennis, football matches, and even elections in India.
According to ED’s second charge sheet, the “betting empire” operated over 3,200 betting panels across various cities, generating approximately ₹240 crore daily.
ED’s January 2024 charge sheet also revealed that the promoters of Mahadev Online Book had rented 20 villas in Dubai to accommodate its 3,500-person staff.
The ED has filed two charge sheets in the case, one against Chandrakar and Uppal. It estimates the proceeds of crime in the case to be around ₹6,000 crore, of which assets worth ₹2,426 crore have been attached, seized, or frozen under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).