In response to a request from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) took action on November 5 by issuing blocking orders against 22 apps and websites suspected of engaging in illegal betting activities, which included Mahadev Book and Reddyannaprestopro apps.
The ED's investigation into the promoters of the Mahadev online betting app revolves around a money-laundering case and has seen the agency conduct raids on its premises in Chhattisgarh. On October 23, the ED filed its initial chargesheet related to the case.
The owners of Mahadev Book now find themselves in custody, having been arrested under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for their alleged involvement in money laundering. The prosecution complaint filed by the ED names 14 individuals, including the supposed main promoters of the Mahadev Book app, Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, along with others like Vikas Chhapariya, Chandrabhushan Verma, Satish Chandrakar, Anil Dammani, Sunil Dammani, Vishal Ahuja, Dheeraj Ahuja, Srijan Associates through Punaram Verma, Shiv Kumar Verma, Punaram Verma Shiv Kumar Verma, Yashoda Verma, and Pawan Nathani.
Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, highlighted that the Chhattisgarh Government possessed the authority to recommend the shutdown of websites and apps under Section 69A of the IT Act. However, they had not made any such requests during their 1.5-year investigation into these platforms. The first and only request to take action against these entities came from the ED.
