Mahadev App: Baghel Named in Chargesheet

RAIPUR: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has named former chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel in the supplementary chargesheet filed in a case relating to the alleged online betting scam.

The ED has filed the supplementary chargesheet in online betting Mahadev APP case in a special court in Raipur, dealing with the cases ofviolation of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), recently.

The 87-page chargesheet filed earlier in the month claimed that Baghel had received a bribe of Rs 508 crore from the promoters of the Mahadev online betting App.

This was revealed during investigation into the case, the chargesheet said. The chargesheet also named the online betting platform promoter Shubham Soni, Anil Agrawal alias Atul Agrawal, Rohit Gulati, Bhim Singh Yadav and Asim Das.

According to the ED, one of the accused in the case, Asim Das, in his statement has said that the betting platform promoter Soni instructed him to deliver a substantial amount of cash to Baghel.

“He (Asim Das) was first called to Dubai on 8.10.2023 by Shubham Soni and after 2-3 days was told to return to India where he would be provided with cash to be delivered to certain persons. That, he (Asim Das) returned to India on 12.10.2023 but Shubham Soni did not provide him any cash”, the charge sheet said.

According to the ED, Das was again called to Dubai on25.10.2023 by Soni and was again told that he would be provided cash which was to be “delivered to Bhupesh Baghel, Ex-CM ofChhattisgarh”.

The chargesheet maintained that Das returned to India on November two last year and at the Raipur airport, he was provided with a vehicle and details ofhis hotel booking.

“He (Asim Das) received a call from Shubham Soni after reaching the hotel and was told that someone is coming with the cash. That, around 02:15 PM, one person came and kept five bags full of cash in his vehicle and then he (Asim Das) parked the vehicle in the basement of the hotel. He again received a call from Soni who told him that he would be soon sending the location where the cash is to be delivered and asked him to wait in his hotel room”, the chargesheet said.