In one of the most sweeping crackdowns in Rs 6,000 crore Mahadev Online Betting App scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday launched coordinated search operations at 60 locations across Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Kolkata, and Bhopal at the premises of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, a sitting MLA, senior IPS officers, former bureaucrats, jailed aides, and private sector operatives allegedly linked to the illicit betting syndicate. CBI’s expansive and high-profile operation involved a detailed investigation that included key public figures and influential officers, highlighting the extensive political-bureaucratic-criminal nexus at the heart of the illicit network. CBI search teams were accompanied by armed Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers requisitioned from central paramilitary units deployed across Chhattisgarh.

 

The searches were conducted after CBI formally took over the case from the State Economic Offences Investigation and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SEOIACB), which, despite obtaining Section 17(A) clearances under Prevention of Corruption Act for over 20 serving and former officials, failed to act against the accused, allowing time for cover-ups and potential tampering of evidence. “The central agency was brought into the investigation due to lack of action from SEOIACB, despite clearances granted in March 2024 by General Administration Department (GAD) of Chhattisgarh Government, held by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai himself. The unexplained delay despite necessary clearances gave the accused nearly a year to tamper with evidence and sanitise assets,” said a whistleblower, holding a senior position in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Chhattisgarh.

 

The whistleblower played a key role in flagging internal findings that exposed serious flaws in the probe. These disclosures were instrumental in prompting Chhattisgarh Government to transfer the case to CBI. Enforcement Directorate (ED), in an official communiqué issued on November 3, 2023, alleged that regular payments were made in the past and around Rs 508 crore was paid by Mahadev App promoters to Bhupesh Baghel, Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, as ‘protection money’. ED’s startling allegations were based on their questioning of Asim Das, forensic examination of the phone recovered from him, and examination of an e-mail sent by Shubam Soni (one of the high-ranking accused of Mahadev network). Sources confirmed that the ongoing searches led by 2009-batch IPS officer Abhinav Khare are one of the most far-reaching probes in recent time. CBI teams led by him executed synchronised raids in multiple districts of Chhattisgarh, rattling the power corridors in the State. Prior to the searches, a discreet probe into the betting scam was being led by CBI ASP Ajit Singh, assisted by two Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSP)-rank officers. It uncovered a significant amount of financial and digital evidence, including transaction records and call data.

 

The operation was based out of a local Raipur police mess, with full logistical backing from Chhattisgarh Police. “The scale of the operation highlights the importance of coordination across multiple jurisdictions,” CBI sources told ‘The Hitavada’. CBI conducted operations in multiple districts including Raipur, Bhilai, Rajnandgaon, Raigarh, and Ambikapur, with a staggering 55 locations raided within Chhattisgarh; and five more locations in Bhopal, Kolkata, and Delhi. Searched were conducted at the residences of former CM Bhupesh Baghel in Raipur and Bhilai, Bhilai MLA Devendra Yadav, and several high-ranking IPS officers. Searches in Bhilai were conducted at the residences of Crime Branch Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Purn Bahadur Karki, formerly responsible for Crime Branch duties; and ASI Shamit Mishra of Sector-8 Police Station.

 

 

FORMER Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Wednesday questioned the timing of CBI searches and said the searches at his residence were carried out ahead of his scheduled visit to New Delhi for a Congress meeting. Reacting to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) action, Baghel’s office in a post on X said, “Now CBI has arrived. Former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is scheduled to go to Delhi today for the meeting of the “Drafting Committee” constituted for the AICC meeting to be held in Ahmedabad (Gujarat) on April 8 and 9.” “Before that, CBI has reached Raipur and Bhilai residences,” it added.

 

 

CHHATTISGARH Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Wednesday said, the CBI raids in his State were against the conspiracy to lure youth into betting through a mobile application. Sai was reacting to the searches conducted by the central agency at places linked to former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, about a dozen officers and his close aides. “As far as I know the raid pertains to the Mahadev Betting App scheme. The whole world knows that some people played with the future of our youth through Mahadev App,” Sai, who was here for an investors' meet, told reporters. He alleged that people were made addicted to betting. “Some of the accused are outside India too. When people complained about it, the State Government handed over the case to the CBI, which has carried out raids today.” Deputy Chief Minister Arun Sao said that the Congress should not link the CBI’s searches on the premises of its leader Bhupesh Baghel and others to politics and cooperate in the investigation. Sao said, during the previous Baghel-led Government in the State, “several major scams” happened which are being probed by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate.