Mumbai SIT detains actor Sahil Khan in Mahadev betting app case

Mumbai special investigation team (SIT) on Sunday detained actor Sahil Khan from Chhattisgarh in Mahadev betting app case.

The SIT team apprehended the actor from Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh on Saturday after the Bombay High Court rejected his pre-arrest bail plea.

The SIT has been conducting a probe into the alleged illegal transactions between certain financial and real estate firms in the state and the promoters of the controversial Mahadev betting app.

The size of the scam is about ₹15,000 crore, as per the first information report (FIR) registered by the police in the case.

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An investigation is underway against Khan and 31 other individuals. The probe involves examining their bank accounts, mobile phones, laptops, and all technical equipment, according to the police.

Sahil Khan, known for films like ‘Style’ and ‘Excuse Me’, has become a fitness expert.

Last week, Chhattisgarh's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB)/Economic Offence Wing (EOW) arrested two persons in connection with the alleged illegal operations of the Mahadev online gaming and betting application.

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The ED has separately arrested nine persons so far as part of its probe.

The ACB/EOW, in its FIR lodged in the alleged Mahadev betting app scandal, has named former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel of the Congress along with promoters of the app Ravi Uppal, Saurabh Chandrakar, Shubham Soni and Anil Kumar Agrawal and 14 others as accused. 

The FIR stated that Mahadev book app promoters Uppal, Saurabh Chandrakar, Shubham Soni and Anil Agrawal created online platform for live online betting and indulged in gambling through WhatsApp, Facebook and telegram and other social media platforms.

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 The promoters created different platforms and conducted illegal acts of online betting through panel operators/branch operators. They kept 70-80% of illegal earnings with them and distributed the rest of the money to panel operators/ branch operators, the FIR said. The promoters and panel operators garnered around ₹450 crore per month through the online betting app after the lockdown was imposed in 2020 (following COVID-19 outbreak), it said. The panel operators transferred illegal money to app promoters in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) through various bank accounts, FIR mentioned.