New Delhi: The CBI said on November 1 that it had secured the extradition of Sourabh Chandrakar from Oman and brought him to India. The agency identified him as a promoter of the Mahadev App network under investigation for alleged illegal online betting.
Chandrakar is wanted in two CBI cases in which chargesheets have been filed and an Enforcement Directorate case in which a prosecution complaint has been filed, the agency said. Its November 1 release said he would undergo a medical examination and be taken to Raipur after transit remand, with production before the CBI Special Judge planned for November 2.
The Royal Oman Police located and detained Chandrakar on the basis of a Red Corner Notice, according to the CBI. The CBI and ED submitted formal extradition proposals with evidence. Indian agencies, the Interpol National Central Bureau and Omani authorities coordinated the process, after which a CBI team travelled to Muscat and escorted him to India.
The CBI took up the Mahadev Online Book investigations at the Chhattisgarh government’s request. The agency alleges that the network operated from abroad through franchised panels and branches across India, enrolling users and collecting stakes on cricket, football, card games and other events.
Investigators allege that betting proceeds passed through mule bank accounts and layered transactions before being moved abroad through hawala channels. Part of the proceeds was allegedly paid as protection money to public servants, the CBI said.
The agency said it had filed five chargesheets under the Prevention of Corruption Act, Indian Penal Code provisions concerning conspiracy, cheating and forgery, and the Chhattisgarh Gambling (Prohibition) Act. Chandrakar is among the accused named in those chargesheets. The CBI also said the ED had attached properties in India and abroad linked to the alleged syndicate.
