04 November,2026 10:48 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
CBI had recently brought back Saurabh Chandrakar (above) from Oman. File Pic/PTI
Ravi Uppal, co-promoter of the multi-crore Mahadev online betting app, has been arrested in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Indian agencies have initiated efforts to secure his extradition, officials said on Wednesday, reported the PTI.
The 46-year-old was arrested by Dubai authorities on the basis of an Interpol Red Notice issued at the request of Indian investigating agencies, officials told news agency PTI.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are working to bring Uppal back to India to face investigation in connection with the alleged money laundering and betting operations linked to the Mahadev app.
Uppal's arrest comes days after the CBI brought back Saurabh Chandrakar, another promoter of the Mahadev app and Uppal's associate, from Oman on November 1.
Chandrakar was extradited to India after a court in Oman approved the request in connection with a money laundering case being investigated by the ED.
A special court in Raipur on Wednesday granted eight days of CBI custody of Chandrakar.
Both Uppal and Chandrakar hail from Bhilai town in Chhattisgarh's Durg district.
According to the chargesheet filed in October 2023, Uppal allegedly generated and benefited from proceeds of crime and was involved in concealing and layering the money, the news agency reported.
Investigating agencies alleged that he was responsible for delivering liaison payments to bureaucrats and politicians in Chhattisgarh through police assistant sub-inspector Chandrabhushan Verma and other associates.
Probe agencies have also claimed that Uppal obtained a passport from Vanuatu, an island country in the South Pacific, similar to Chandrakar.
Uppal was previously detained by UAE authorities in 2023. However, Indian agencies subsequently found that he was in Australia.
According to the CBI, the Mahadev app, also known as Mahadev Online Book (MOB), began operations in 2019-20.
Its user base reportedly grew sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and continued to expand thereafter.
The app allegedly operated through thousands of panels and generated proceeds of crime estimated at Rs 80,000 crore since 2019, according to the agency.
The investigation into the alleged online betting network and its financial operations is continuing.
(with PTI inputs)
