Amid ED investigation into betting app, the center orders to disable Mahadev Book Online

In the midst of the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) investigation into the Mahadev betting app case, the IT ministry on Sunday issued a blocking order against Mahadev Book Online and other 21 betting applications and websites. Following the ED’s suggestion, the order was issued under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.

Statement from the minister of state for IT

The minister of state for IT Rajeev Chandrashekhar in a statement said, “Chhattisgarh Government had all the power to recommend shutting down of website/app under Sec 69A IT Act. However, they did not do so and no such request was made by the State Government while they have been investigating it for the last 1.5 years. In fact, the first and only request has been received from ED and it has been acted upon. Nothing prevented the Chhattisgarh Government from making similar requests.”

Significantly, in August of this year, the proprietors of Mahadev Book were taken into custody under to Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

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Mahadev Book Online betting app

The ED stated last week, citing a forensic study and a testimony from a “cash courier,” that the promoters of the Mahadev betting app had given Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel around ₹508 crore. This happened the day after the investigation team raided locations in the state targeting money laundering networks connected to the Mahadev online gambling software.

Asim Das, a cash courier who had reportedly been dispatched from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the express purpose of delivering a sizeable quantity of cash, was successfully intercepted, according to the Enforcement Department (ED). Das admitted under questioning that the money that had been intercepted had been organized by the Mahadev betting app’s sponsors to be given to a well-known state legislator by the name of “Baghel” in order to pay for forthcoming election-related expenses.

Baghel, meanwhile, said that the ED investigation is a “political attempt to defame” the state government and Congress.