Mahadev App scam accused will go to jail, asserts Raman Singh; ‘There is evidence to prove’

Republic TV’s sting and ED documents prove that Bhupesh Baghel is connected with the Mahadev betting app scam, said former Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh speaking with Republic TV. The latest revelation of Shubham Soni giving money to the chief minister's office through Asim Das has also not come as a surprise, he said and added that ED had mentioned it very comprehensively in its documents. The chief minister can claim that this is a tactic to malign his image however the proof is against him, said Singh.

Ex-Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh said, “There is evidence to prove of transactions worth ₹509 crore, cash worth Rs 7 crores has been seized. There is a connection of this to Dubai. The ED has submitted evidence of cash transactions between 3 officers of the state secretariat and the owners of the Mahadev app. What more evidence do you want?”

‘The accused will go to Jail’: Raman Singh

He further added, “It was Asim Das from whom ₹5.37 crore worth of cash for seized. He is the same Asim Das who said he gave cash to the person with the name ‘Baghel, he is the same Asim Das against whom the Dubai links have emerged. ED hasn’t taken action blankly, they have acted on the basis of concrete evidence. This case will go to the court and the accused will go to the jail.”

The Mahadev Betting Scam came to light after the app’s promoter Sourabh Chandrakar's wedding in February earlier this year. Several Bollywood celebrities such as Vishal Dadlani, Tiger Shroff, Sonakshi Sinha, Atif Aslam, and Neha Kakkar were hired to perform at the wedding and were eventually summoned by the ED for investigation.

Once a juice shop owner, Chandrakar and Uppal from Chhattisgarh's Bhilai have raked in a whopping Rs 5,000 crore since it became operational four years ago. According to the investigators, Chandrakar and his aides launder money into offshore accounts through as many as 70 shell companies.

Several high-profile individuals including Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel's political advisor Vinod Verma and ASI Chandra Bhushan Verma have been arrested by the ED in connection with the case. Satish Chandrakar, also arrested in the case, revealed before ED that Verma collected Rs 60-65 crore between 2021 to 2023 from Ravi Uppal "in the name of the CM house." He also alleged that Verma used to call Uppal repeatedly asking him to arrange money "to manage the state police and bureaucracy."