In a massive development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday summoned Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor to the infamous Mahadev gaming app scam. Ranbir Kapoor has been reportedly asked to appear before the ED on October 6 for questioning. Ranbir Kapoor's summoning comes months after more than a dozen Bollywood celebrities came on ED's radar after they flew to Dubai in a Chartered flight for the wedding celebration of the main accused, Sourabh Chandrakar, in the UAE. ED suspects around Rs 260 crore was spent by the accused for the wedding celebrations. Reports further suggest that a event management company was roped in by the main accused to make the payment to the celebrities who performed during the wedding. Investigation so far has revealed that hawala channel was used by the main accused to distribute the money.
It is pertinent to mention here that more than a dozen actors and actresses have come on ED's radar. The names of the actors include- Tiger Shroff, Sunny Leone, Neha Kakkar, Ali Asgar, Vishal Dadlani, Elli AvrRam, Bharti Singh, Bhagyashree, Kriti Kharbanda, Nushrratt Bharuccha, Krushna Abhishek, Sukhwinder Singh and more.
What is Mahadev Betting Scam?
For those who are unaware, the Mahadev Book app, an online betting platform, is currently under investigation by the ED and police departments of several states. Reports suggest that ED has gathered digital evidence and going by that, Rs 112 crore was delivered via hawala to an event management company, while payment for hotel bookings, costing Rs 42 crore was made in cash, sources revealed last month.
OP Choudhary, former IAS officer and BJP general secretary was among the first persons to lodge a complaint against the company that used to be operated from Chhattisgarh. It is pertinent to mention here that Saurabh Chandrakar and his associate, Ravi Uppal, are among the wanted suspects in India. Allegedly, they have been operating their Mahadev online book platform from Dubai. Both of them are originally from Bhilai in Chhattisgarh. Both Saurabh and Ravi worked as local bookies, ran small juice stalls and tire stores. Now, they have purportedly accumulated a wealth exceeding Rs 6,000 crore through the Mahadev Book app. Mahadev Book App bypassed Indian regulations, permitting credit cards, UPI, debit cards, and bank transfers for betting.
With ED has already summoned Ranbir Kapoor, reports suggest that the central agency is likely to summon Neha Kakkar and Vishal Dadlani along with actor Tiger Shroff in the case as he was among the celebrities who performed at Chandrakar's wedding.