Raipur: Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths got a remand of six days against four accused linked with online illegal Mahadev betting app related to hawala operations on Thursday. These accused include one assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Chhattisgarh police, along with three hawala operators under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002 in the ongoing money laundering investigation related to online.
ASI Chandrabhushan Verma of Chhattisgarh Police, along with Satish Chandrakar, Hawala operators Anil & Sunil Dammani arrested under the provisions of PMLA 2002 in the ongoing money laundering investigation related to the Mahadev Online Book APP case, were produced before the Hon’ble PMLA Special Court of Raipur.
The special Court of Raipur granted ED Custody for 6 days, an official communique said.
All 6 accused to remain in ED custody
All the arrested accused linked with the Mahadev Online betting case allegedly involved in the money laundering case will remain in ED custody during the period, ED confirmed through its official social media handle ‘X'.
Based on the concrete intel, the investigation agency team conducted search operations at multiple locations in the state between 21 – 23 August 2023 and recovered a huge number of incriminating documents, evidence related to the accused and other people involved in the online betting racket. All the documents were seized, ED said.
The arrested accused persons have admitted to their role and have given trail of the bribes and list of the beneficiaries of these bribes, mentioned the ED.
Notably, during the investigation ED revealed that the accused ASI Chandrabhushan Verma received around Rs 65 Crore cash amount. He kept his cut amount and distributed the rest as a form of bribe to Senior Police Officers and Politicians.
During the investigation the agency revealed that though the ASI Chandra Bushan Verma, is not a very senior officer in the Police hierarchy, but through his relationship with Vinod Verma (Pol Advisor to CM) and with the help of money power received from kickbacks sent by Ravi Uppal in Dubai, he has managed to influence senior officers, ED alleged.
ASI Verma makes confession
ASI Verma has admitted before ED that he was receiving and paying hefty monthly bribes to many powerful people sitting in corridors of power, the investigating agency mentioned. ASI Verma has admitted that the bribe payments were enhanced after some action was done by Police in May 2022, the ED claimed.
“The bribes were enhanced to water down the cases, to include non-bailable offences, and to restrict prosecution up to local punters and to prevent future action on their operations. Further, arrested accused have specifically named high ranking Officials connected to CMO who have received hefty kickbacks on monthly/regular basis' ', ED alleged.
ED Gets 6-Day Remand Of 4 Accused Linked With Hawala Trade Mahadev Betting App | FPJ
