9th arrest in Mahadev app case: Man who sought to expand operations to Zimbabwe held

Companies have also been set up in the UAE under Nitish Diwan's name, and they provided visa services to the staff of Mahadev Online Book working in Dubai.

The 25-page FIR first registered with the Matunga police on November 7 is based on a complaint by a Matunga resident, one Prakash Bankar, and mainly revolves around Khiladi app, a subsidiary of Mahadev app. (Representational Image)

Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials on Thursday arrested Nitish Diwan, who was allegedly involved with the illegal betting platform Mahadev Online Book at the highest level.

Mahadev Online Book has been at the centre of an investigation by the ED, which has alleged that the app’s promoters, Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, gave hundreds of crores in bribes to a top politician and police officers from Chhattisgarh for not arresting the accused in the case. The agency also said the accused in the case have amassed ill-gotten money to the tune of thousands of crores of rupees.

Officials said Diwan was close to the platform’s promoters, and that they sent him to Zimbabwe to look for opportunities to set up betting operations there. He also held assets in his name that were beneficially owned by the Mahadev app promoters, they said.

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Also read | Bhilai to Dubai: How a chance meeting at a paan shop led to Mahadev betting app that’s now at centre of ED probe

It was also alleged that Diwan had bank accounts in the UAE and operated these accounts for routing funds.

Companies have also been set up in the UAE under his name, and they provided visa services to the staff of Mahadev Online Book working in Dubai. The companies were also being used to route the illegal betting proceeds, officials said.

Also read | Mahadev online betting racket: How two Chhattisgarh men amassed Rs 5000 cr

So far, movable property totalling Rs 572.41 crore has been seized or frozen during searches.

Diwan was produced before a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) special court in Raipur, which granted his custody to ED for eight days. Nine accused have been arrested in the case, including Diwan.

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