In Sourabh Chandrakar’s sprawling mansion in Dubai, one floor is reserved for Lord Shiva, of whom he is an ardent devotee. After all, he believes ‘Mahadev’ gave him everything, including the billions he earned within a short span. He is the promoter of the Mahadev Online Book Betting app. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is now investigating Sourabh, who is accused of being the ringleader of a major internet betting racket and was spending money like there was no tomorrow. It was the 28-year-old’s super lavish wedding at the Ras Al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates this February that caught the ED’s attention. He spent a mindboggling Rs 200 crore on the bash, paid entirely in cash.
The lavish Rs 200 cr wedding
Information gathered from multiple sources, including from some of those who attended the wedding from Sourabh’s hometown of Bimcha village in Chattisgarh, suggests that there were around 300 guests from the State alone. They were ferried in special jets from Nagpur.
“He gifted all of us gold chains and i-phones. The main priest who performed the marriage was given Rs 25 lakh and other priests were given around Rs 15 lakh each. That was apart from the gold jewellery and other gifts he gave them,” one of the invitees said.
Bollywood stars and other important people were also present. He paid them jaw-dropping sums to perform, and accommodation for them was arranged in the Bhurj Khalifa. “Some of us stayed at his massive mansion as well. We were ferried in luxury cars and had the best food and hospitality,” said another guest, who was unwilling to believe that Sourabh would do anything wrong.
Months before the marriage, all the 300 invitees were sent an application form in which they were asked to mention measurements of their clothes, preferences, shoe sizes, and food choices. “At the airport, we were given bags which contained new clothes to be worn at the wedding, shoes and other things. It was the most lavish wedding ever,” they recall. Sourabh had hired a Mumbai-based event management firm to take care of all the needs of his guests flying from India. He reportedly used hawala channels to make payments.
Newly-minted billionaire
Just a few years before his meteoric rise, Sourabh ran a juice centre while his associate Ravi Uppal ran a tyre shop. Locals recall that Sourabh was addicted to online gaming. “He often spoke about his dream of making massive wealth. He loved online betting and told us that someday he would launch an app like the one he eventually did. He was a well-behaved and helpful young man and remains that way even today,” recalled a local, who was a regular at his juice centre.
Sourabh also reportedly made a habit of touching the feet of many of his customers to seek their blessings. His life drastically changed after he and Ravi Uppal left for Dubai. “In a matter of months, he shifted his entire family and many relatives to Dubai,” those who know him said, adding that he even opened a jewellery business for his relatives. He is also in the process of constructing a massive shopping mall in Dubai. Before he came under the ED lens, Sourabh’s earnings were between Rs 50 cr and Rs 100 cr per day, which his well-wishers see as a reason for him splurging and flaunting his wealth.
A do-gooder
Locally, he was well known for his generosity, giving loans to all those who were in need and bringing them out of acute poverty. Many people he knew, who were doing petty jobs, bought luxury cars with his money in the last two years. “He offered a helping hand to many,” his acquaintances said.
Tip of the iceberg
Sources associated with the investigation said the Bollywood stars who have come under the lens so far represent only the tip of the iceberg. “A lot of people, both individuals and organisations, have benefitted from Sourabh. All his links are being probed,” they said.
