ED makes new extradition bid for Mahadev app chief

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sent a fresh extradition request to the UAE regarding Mahadev app co-founder Sourabh Chandrakar, who was first detained in Dubai in 2024 but was subsequently released, asking authorities in the West Asian country to “provisionally arrest” him so that the process to bring the alleged mastermind of a ₹6,000 crore illegal betting syndicate can begin, senior officials in the agency told HT.

The renewed extradition request has already been sent through the ministry of external affairs (MEA) and is likely to be executed by UAE authorities in the coming days, the officials added.

Chandrakar, in his early 30s, set-up the Mahadev betting empire along with co-founder Ravi Uppal. The duo fled to Dubai sometime in 2019 and their network still allegedly runs betting apps, websites from there.

Based on an Interpol red notice, UAE authorities briefly detained Chandrakar in October 2024 and kept him under house arrest. The same month, India sent an extradition request for him which, an officer said, was not executed. It isn’t clear why.

As first reported by HT on November 4, 2025, Ravi Uppal went missing from the UAE after authorities in the country decided to close extradition proceedings against him. The Supreme Court, on November 4, directed ED to act against the Mahadev app founders while observing that “kingpins of white-collar crimes cannot be allowed to treat courts and investigation agencies as mere instruments to play around with”.

“We have now sent a fresh extradition request for Sourabh Chandrakar based on robust evidence and also a non-bailable arrest request . We believe that he could be arrested soon,” said an ED officer, who asked not to be named.

ED has also attached investments worth ₹74 crore made by Chandrakar through foreign portfolio investors (FPI) in India, according to a second officer.

The agency is further preparing to attach assets worth over ₹1,000 crore in the Mahadev probe as it suspects that proceeds of crime in the illegal betting syndicate are much higher than estimated.

Officials said that fugitive economic offender (FEO) proceedings against Chandrakar and Uppal (whose location is now not known) are also in final stages. The FEO Act empowers authorities to confiscate and attach proceeds of crimes and assets when the amount involved in the case is higher than ₹100 crore. Such attachment is not linked to conviction.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Chhattisgarh police are also investigating Mahadev founders along with several government officials in Raipur. The illegal betting operations, still running across India despite the government banning multiple platforms and apps linked to Mahadev, allows people to place illegal bets on poker and other card games, other games of chance , cricket, badminton, tennis and football matches, even election outcomes.

ED has claimed in one of its charge sheets in the case that the “betting empire” operates at least 3,200 (betting) panels in different cities, generating around ₹240 crore per day.

The duo -- Chandrakar and Uppal -- rented 20 villas in Dubai to accommodate its staff of 3,500 persons. Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel is also named as an accused in the investigation.