Mahadev app founders went from juice-tyre shop to making Rs 200 crore per day

The ED is probing money laundering charges against the promoters of Mahadev betting app (Image credit: dir_ed/Twitter)

Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, masterminds of the Mahadev money laundering scheme, once ran juice and tyre shops in Chhattisgarh. Their foray into the world of online betting was relatively recent, and has now landed them under the Enforcement Directorate’s scanner. Through their Mahadev betting apps empire, Chandrakar and Uppal are estimated to have made Rs 200 crore per day – a remarkable jump indeed from their humble beginnings in Chhattisgarh’s Bhilai.

The Enforcement Directorate is investigating the money laundering operations of the Mahadev Online Book app, which may be to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore.

Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal ran their massive gambling empire from the UAE. It was active not only in the UAE but also in India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The ED is now looking for the two men and has issued non-bailable warrants against them.

According to an NDTV report, until a few years ago, Chandrakar was running a juice shop in Bhilai's Nehru Nagar, while Ravi Uppal owned a tyre shop. They both became addicted to gambling. With their savings, the two travelled to Dubai where they met a sheikh and a Pakistani national, the report said.

The men together the Mahadev online betting app, which soon grew bigger and bigger. The company, which was running operations from Dubai, allegedly used the online book betting application to enrol new users, create user IDs and launder money through a layered web of benami bank accounts, officials say.

The app’s two promoters, Chandrakar and Uppal, set up a network of some 4,000 to 5,000 panel operators across India.The panel operator would guide a person into opening an account on the app, placing bets, and receiving money.

It was Chandrakar’s Rs 200 crore wedding in the UAE that first put the spotlight on the racket. Several Bollywood celebrities are now under the ED’s scanner for performing at the wedding or promoting the app.