The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) carried out raids at 33 locations across six states on Friday targeting panel operators linked to the Mahadev Online Book betting app, according to Patrika. The agency shut down live betting panels it found running at several sites and seized phones, digital devices and documents.
What the raids targeted
Patrika reported that the CBI teams moved on premises used by panel operators, the local-level agents who run betting on the Mahadev platform. At several of the locations, the report said, officers found live betting panels still active and shut them down on the spot.
Mobile phones, laptops and paper records were seized for examination, Patrika’s report said. According to the outlet, an early review of the seized material points to the use of mule bank accounts, accounts opened or rented in other people’s names to receive betting deposits, along with a hawala network used to move the money further.
Friday’s action is a CBI operation and is separate from an earlier search by Chhattisgarh’s own Anti-Corruption Bureau and Economic Offences Wing, which had raided 29 locations across five districts of the state at an earlier stage of the case. The CBI took over the probe from the state agencies as the investigation grew to span multiple states and, with Chandrakar’s extradition, reached into panel-operator networks outside Chhattisgarh itself.
How the raids trace back to Chandrakar’s custody
The CBI arrested Mahadev app co-promoter Saurabh Chandrakar on November 1 after his extradition from Oman, and a Raipur special CBI court granted the agency eight days of custody for questioning, according to The Week, citing PTI. Praman reported at the time that the platform was still routing users to betting agents on WhatsApp even after his arrest.
Patrika reported that Chandrakar was produced in court again on November 12 and sent to judicial custody until November 19. During questioning, the outlet said, he described how the panel-operator network was structured, information the CBI used to identify operators across multiple states and plan Friday’s raids.
A probe that has grown for over a year
The Chhattisgarh government handed the original investigation to the CBI, which has since registered two FIRs and widened its scope considerably. The agency has said the Mahadev app’s network was run from a head office abroad, with panel operators issuing customers betting IDs and routing their deposits into mule or rented bank accounts before profits moved overseas through hawala channels, according to earlier CBI chargesheet reporting carried by Organiser.
In July 2026, the CBI filed 11 fresh chargesheets against 72 accused in the case, including Chandrakar and fellow promoter Ravi Uppal, Organiser’s report said. The Enforcement Directorate, which is separately probing the money-laundering side of the case, has estimated the proceeds of crime at Rs 94,400 crore, though that figure is the agency’s own estimate of the scheme’s scale rather than an amount it has recovered.
The CBI’s first large sweep in the case came in March 2025, when it searched 60 locations across four states, including the Chhattisgarh residence of former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, whom the agency had named as an accused in its FIR and called a beneficiary of the scheme. Baghel has denied the allegations and called the action politically motivated. A second kingpin, Abhishek Kumar, was arrested at Hyderabad airport in September 2026 after arriving from Dubai, widening the net further before Chandrakar’s own extradition and arrest in November.
Patrika’s report said extradition proceedings remain underway against other accused who are still absconding abroad, and that Friday’s raids on panel operators are a direct result of the leads the CBI says it developed from Chandrakar’s own custodial statements.
What happens next
Chandrakar remains in judicial custody until November 19, when the Raipur court is next due to review the case. Whoever was detained or named in Friday’s raids across the six states has not yet been confirmed, and no official CBI statement on the raids had been issued as of this report.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Mahadev app case?
It is a multi-state investigation into Mahadev Online Book, an illegal online betting platform the CBI says originated in Chhattisgarh and was run from abroad through a network of local panel operators, with deposits moved through mule accounts and hawala channels.
Who is Saurabh Chandrakar?
He is one of the app’s two main promoters, alongside Ravi Uppal. The CBI extradited him from Oman and arrested him on November 1, 2026, and he remains in judicial custody as of this report.
What happens next in the case?
Chandrakar’s custody is due for review on November 19. Patrika reported that the CBI is still working through leads from his questioning, and extradition proceedings continue against other accused still outside India.
Leave a Reply