Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday claimed that the state's Economic Offence Wing filing FIR against him in the Mahadev online betting case has political vendetta and further alleging that action to be ruling party's fear of facing big loss in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Baghel, a Congress MLA, has been fielded by the party from Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat.
The state's Economic Offence Wing (EOW) registered a case against Baghel and 18 others in the alleged Mahadev online betting scam based on a probe report submitted by the Enforcement Directorate.
What did Bhupesh Baghel say?
Bhupesh Baghel addressed a press conference on Sunday where he stated, "The FIR was registered by the EOW on March 4 then why it was not uploaded in its website and made public? The FIR was made public on Sunday after a newspaper carried a report on this."
Further he alleged that, "In the FIR copy, my name was mentioned as accused at the 6th place. The content of the FIR in which names of the promoters of the app has been mentioned, does not have my name."
Adding, " The FIR is politically motivated, I was deliberately implicated under pressure. It was done due to political vendetta."
Baghel stated that his administration has filed 72 FIRs related to the Mahadev app since 2022, leading to the arrest of approximately 450 individuals.
He emphasized that during his tenure (from 2018 to 2023), the state's anti-gambling laws were strengthened.
The previous Congress government had issued a look out circular against Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, who are the promoters of the Mahadev betting app. Baghel asserted that it is the responsibility of the Central government to ensure their apprehension.
"Why have the promoters of Mahadev App not been arrested yet. Is there any deal? The BJP is anticipating massive loss in Rajnandgaon as well as in the entire state after I was made candidate from Rajnandgaon. Therefore I was falsely framed in the Mahdev app case to impact elections," he added.
"I am neither scared nor will step back with such moves", he asserted.
Baghel also said details that emerged about the electoral bonds show maximum donation was given to the BJP by a company Future Gaming and Hotels Service, he said.
Speaking about more details of the case, Baghel said, "They were not arrested and during last assembly polls, a twist was brought to the story with entry of Shubham Soni. Till then there were only two promoters of the app Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal. Suddenly video of Soni was released from BJP office, not from the ED office, in which Soni claims he is the app's promoter."
"Then a person Asim Das Asim was arrested (in November) along with huge cash pile in a car. The four-wheeler seized from his possession belonged to brother of a BJP leader Amar Agrawal (now an MLA and former minister). Even pictures of Das with incumbent assembly speaker and former assembly speaker Premprakash Pandey surfaced," Baghel further alleged.
The Mahadev app is still operational, Baghel claimed, and asked if this was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's guarantee and good governance of Vishnu Deo Sai government.
Details of Mahadev Betting App case
According to the ED, the estimated amount of money obtained through illegal activities in this case is approximately Rs 6,000 crore.
According to PTI, a senior EOW official said, "The ED has been investigating the case and based on its report submitted to the state's Economic Offences Wing/Anti-Corruption Bureau, the FIR was registered against Baghel and others at the EOW police station here on March 4."
Baghel, the senior Congress leader, along with the app promoters Ravi Uppal, Saurabh Chandrakar, Shubham Soni and Anil Kumar Agrawal and 14 others have been named as accused in the FIR, he said.
Some bureaucrats, police officials, officers on special duty (OSDs) and other unidentified private persons have also been made accused (without being named) in the case, he said.
The case has been registered under various Indian Penal Code Sections, including 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document), and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, the official said.
The FIR, citing the ED's report, stated that Mahadev Book App promoters Uppal, Chandrakar, Soni and Agrawal created the platform for live online betting and indulged in betting through Whatsapp, Facebook and Telegram and other social media platforms.
