NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached assets worth about Rs 1,700 crore in Dubai in “illegal” Mahadev online betting app money laundering investigation, the agency said on Wednesday. The property attached is related to entities linked to Sourabh Chandrakar, one of the main promoters of the Mahadev online betting app.
The attachments were made under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the properties include multiple villas and houses. The agency sleuths said some of these properties are located in Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, located in Dubai.
“High-value luxury villas, apartments in Dubai Hills Estate, (including Hills View, Fairway residency and Sidra), multiple high-end apartments in Business Bay and SLS Hotel & Residences and apartments in the iconic Burj Khalifa,” the agency said.
The properties considered for attachment belong to Sourabh Chandrakar, one of the main promoters of the Mahadev Online Book betting application and held in the name of entities controlled by him, his associates, including Vikas Chhaparia, Rohit Gulati, Atul Arora, Nitin Tibrewal, Surendra Bagri.
The Mahadev app was promoted by Chandrakar and his associate Ravi Uppal, both of whom hail from Chhattisgarh. The federal probe agency earlier said that the case involves various high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh.
The Mahadev application was an illegal betting syndicate launched in 2018. At its peak, the platform generated an estimated Rs 200 crore in daily illegal proceeds through a franchise network of over 3,200 panels, with call centres operating from the UAE, Malaysia and Thailand. Total alleged fraud is pegged at Rs 6,000 crore.
Chandrakar and co-promoter Ravi Uppal, both natives of Chhattisgarh, are alleged to have directed operations from Dubai. The ED has alleged that proceeds were laundered through thousands of mule bank accounts and funnelled offshore under the cover of legitimate investment, with a portion shared as bribes to politicians and bureaucrats in Chhattisgarh.
Chandrakar, was formally arrested by Dubai authorities in October 2024 on the basis of an Interpol red notice. His extradition proceedings remain pending before UAE courts.
Uppal was detained in Dubai in late 2023 following a red notice but released after 45 days. By November 2025, UAE authorities informed India that Uppal had left the country; he is believed to have fled to Vanuatu, a South Pacific island nation that has no extradition treaty with India.
Both men are challenging their Interpol red. The ED has filed five charge sheets in the case and arrested 13 individuals.