Mahadev app promoter Ravi Uppal detained in Dubai, extradition proceedings to start soon

According to ED officials, a team has been sent to Dubai to complete further legal documentation work. “He was detained last week and ED officials are in touch with authorities concerned. An initial probe has revealed that Uppal has obtained a passport of the country Vanuatu, so now extradition proceedings will start in the coming months and that procedure will take time,” said an official.

In September, the ED had initiated the process of issuing an RCN against two Dubai-based kingpins—Uppal and Sourabh Chandrakar, 28, both Bhilai residents.

Chandrakar and Uppal have been staying in Dubai for nearly two years. Uppal is said to be an engineering graduate and they run their operations from Dubai and keep 80 per cent of the profits.

The Mahadev app provides platforms for illegal betting in different live games such as card games, chance games, cricket, badminton, tennis, football and others, even providing an avenue to bet on different elections in India. It also provides a facility to play several card games such as ‘teen patti’, poker, ‘dragon tiger’, virtual cricket games, and more.

The ED had filed a money laundering charge sheet against Uppal and Chandrakar before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur in October.

In the charge sheet, the agency had informed the court that Uppal had taken a passport from Vanuatu without renouncing Indian citizenship.