NEW DELHI: Ace Indian batsman Shikhar Dhawan on Thursday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning and recorded his statement under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as part of the agency’s probe into a case linked to the illegal 1xBet betting platform, officials said.
The questioning took place in connection with the case, as the ED is trying to find out his links to the app through promotions and endorsements, they said, adding that earlier, the federal probe agency had also questioned former Indian cricketer Suresh Raina.
The broader investigation by the agency targets various celebrities and influencers who may have promoted these platforms, which are suspected of tax evasion and duping investors. It has also drawn in other prominent figures, including actors and cricketers.
The case under investigation involves 1xBet, an illegal online betting platform operating in India, suspected of money laundering, tax evasion, and rigging its algorithms.
The agency is probing multiple such cases involving illegal betting apps that are alleged to have duped numerous people and investors of crores of rupees or have evaded a huge amount of taxes.
The Union government has banned real-money online gambling games by enacting a law recently against such apps.
According to estimates by market analysis firms and probe agencies, there are about 22 crore Indian users on various such online betting apps, out of which about 11 crore are regular users.
The online betting app market in India is worth over US$100 billion, which is growing at the rate of 30 per cent, according to experts.
The government recently told Parliament that it has issued 1,524 orders from 2022 till June 2025 to block online betting and gambling platforms.