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Mahadev Betting App Case: Saurabh Chandrakar Issues Statement Through PR Agency, Denies ED’s Allegations

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In the Mahadev betting app case, the absconding accused, Saurabh Chandrakar, issued a statement on Monday night through a PR agency, denying all the allegations made against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). 

According to him, he is neither a promoter, director, nor the founder of the Mahadev app. He also denied his involvement in 60 illicit offshore platforms. He identified himself as an entrepreneur from Bhilai and said he was ready to cooperate with the ED.

Chandrakar planning to flee: ED

According to sources in the ED, Chandrakar is trying to mislead the issue and is currently planning to leave the UAE for some undisclosed destination. The sources said they have all the evidence against his illegal betting business and hawala operations from which he has established a Rs 5,000 crore empire. The sources asked if he was willing to cooperate, why is not joining the investigation?

According to an ED investigation, Rs 200 crore was spent on his wedding in Dubai in February 2023 and a host of Bollywood celebrities took part in the bash. Chandrakar said he spent about  Dirham 10 million which was raised through his internal accruals and savings. “Meticulously documented records substantiating the sources of his income are available, and spending Rs 200 crore  in cash is actually not practical,” he added.

Concerning the presence of celebrities at the event, Chandrakar contends that their involvement was greatly exaggerated. He asserts that all the celebrities in attendance were engaged through an event management company, which facilitated their participation. Furthermore, he denied any hawala payments, stating that all artistes were exclusively hired by the company to attend and perform at the event and there were no direct financial transactions between himself and the celebrities. He claimed that the event management company had made payments to all celebrities through regular banking channels.

‘Never traveled to Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal’: Chandrakar

Chandrakar denied any operations in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, or Nepal. He asserts that he has never traveled to these countries.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out raids at multiple locations in Bhilai involving close associates of Chandrakar and his associate Ravi Uppal on Monday and Tuesday. The ED team conducted searches at the premises of Deepak Savlani, who was an alleged partner in Saurabh Chandrakar’s ‘Juice Factory’. Savlani’s statement was also recorded.  Savlani claimed to be a contractor working for the Bhilai Nagar Nigam. 

Additionally, the Enforcement Directorate team visited the close relatives of Ravi Uppal, including one  Prerna Uppal. According to ED officials, they learned from neighbors that the house has been closed for the past year.

Crime

ED raids eight locations linked to ex-Cong MLA Amba Prasad in Jharkhand

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Ranchi, July 4: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday carried out raids at eight locations linked to close associates of former Congress MLA Amba Prasad from Jharkhand’s Barkagaon Assembly constituency.

The raids are part of an ongoing money laundering probe involving a prominent company engaged in coal transportation, infrastructure, and the power sector.

According to sources, simultaneous searches were conducted in Ranchi, Hazaribagh, and Barkagaon.

Among the locations searched are the residence of Amba Prasad’s aide Sanjeet in Kishoreganj (Ranchi) and the homes of her personal assistants — Sanjeev Sao, Manoj Dangi, and Pancham Kumar — in Barkagaon.

Security forces have been deployed in large numbers at all the premises where raids are being conducted.

This move comes months after the ED conducted a similar crackdown between March 12 and March 14 this year, targeting Amba Prasad, her father, and former Minister Yogendra Sao, brother Ankit Raj, and several other relatives and associates.

During those raids, the agency had seized Rs 35 lakh in cash, digital devices, fake stamps of banks and government offices, handwritten receipts, diaries, and other incriminating documents.

Officials believe that the current searches are based on evidence and leads gathered during the earlier raids. The ED is now closely examining documents related to financial transactions, land deals, and mining activities.

Ten companies reportedly registered in the names of Amba Prasad and her family members are under scrutiny.

Earlier, the ED had questioned Amba Prasad, her father Yogendra Sao, and her brother Ankit Raj at its zonal office in Ranchi in connection with the same case.

Amba Prasad was elected to the Jharkhand Assembly from Barkagaon in 2019 on a Congress ticket. Her parents — Yogendra Sao and Nirmala Devi — have also represented the same constituency in the past.

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Crime

Delhi Police arrest notorious cyber stalker in Palam

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CRIME

New Delhi, July 2: A 21-year-old man was arrested in Delhi’s Palam village for allegedly harassing a college student by creating fake Instagram accounts and using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to generate objectionable content.

The accused was persistently stalking and defaming the victim, a college-going girl, through multiple fake Instagram profiles, Amit Goel, Deputy Commissioner of Police, South West District, said in a statement.

The complainant approached the Cyber Police Station, West District, on June 16, reporting that the accused was daily creating new accounts using her photographs, posting them with derogatory captions, and targeting her and her followers.

Acting on the complaint, the police registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

“In view of the seriousness of the matter, a dedicated team led by SI Priyanka was formed to identify and apprehend the accused,” the statement added.

A team of PS Cyber, South-West District, arrested the notorious cyber stalker and recovered the smartphone used in the commission of the offence, the statement read.

During the investigation, it came to the fore that the accused was impersonating a female using a profile picture taken from the victim’s public Instagram account, the police said.

The police said the accused further used AI tools to convert the images into sexually explicit content and uploaded these edited pictures through fake Instagram stories.

Despite efforts to mask his identity by not linking any accounts to verifiable mobile numbers or Gmail IDs, the cyber team used advanced technical analysis to track the suspect to the Palam area of South-West Delhi. Multiple raids were conducted before he was successfully arrested.

The accused, whose identity has been withheld, confessed to the crime during interrogation, the police statement read.

Further investigation is underway.

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Crime

CBI books ex-SBI branch manager in Assam for illegal assets of Rs 80 lakh

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CBI

New Delhi, June 30: The CBI has booked a former manager of the State Bank of India branch in Assam for possessing allegedly illegal assets worth over Rs 80 lakh, an official said on Monday.

Pinku Kumar, former Branch Manager, SBI, Ramkrishnanagar Branch, Karimganj, is also facing a separate investigation over his alleged collusion in a multi-crore scam involving sanction of loans using forged documents, the official said.

CBI’s Shillong-based Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) registered the latest Disproportionate Assets case against Pinku Kumar on June 27 after receiving a complaint from a preliminary investigator.

The complaint alleged commission of criminal misconduct by Pinku Kumar while intentionally enriching himself illicitly, during the check period from April 1, 2019 to March 27, 2025.

During this period, he was found in possession of pecuniary resources/property, disproportionate to his known sources of income which he cannot satisfactorily account for, to the tune of Rs 99.20 lakh -(81.84 per cent DA), said the CBI FIR filed against the former bank manager.

Taking note of the preliminary probe conducted in the matter of criminal misconduct, the CBI’s FIR said, “The facts mentioned in the aforesaid complaint, prima facie, reveal commission of congnizable offences, punishable under Section 13(2) read with 13(1)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended 2018) on the part of Pinku Kumar.”

Section 13 of the Act defines various forms of criminal misconduct by public servants. These include actions like abusing their position, misappropriating property, or possessing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.

Earlier in March, the CBI booked Pinku Kumar twice in separate corruption cases naming two brokers Sumen Paul and Jadab Paul, along with the former, in each of the cases.

Raids conducted by the federal agency in these two cases led to seizure of 481 grams of gold, 11.11 gram of diamond-studded jewellery and 1,092 gram silver.

The CBI investigation showed that the former bank manager conspired with the two brokers and allegedly approved loans base on forged papers, leading to a loss of crores of rupees to the SBI.

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