Raipur, Nov 3 — A CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) team on Tuesday brought Saurabh Chandrakar, the main accused in the multi-thousand-crore Mahadev online betting app scam, to Raipur from Delhi.
Chandrakar, who faces allegations of involvement in a roughly Rs 6,000-crore satta network, arrived on flight E6 2307.
Chandrakar was extradited from Oman and produced before Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court on Monday.
Principal District and Sessions Judge Nikhil Chopra granted the CBI a two-day transit remand and directed that he be produced before the Special CBI Court in Raipur by November 4, 2026, or earlier.
Chandrakar had been absconding since the probe intensified. He lived in Dubai from 2023 and was the subject of an Interpol Red Corner Notice. To evade arrest, he allegedly used forged identity documents, including a fake Indonesian passport in the name of “Ajanta Mendis,” before moving to Oman.
Oman’s Royal Police arrested him on July 8, 2026. After formal extradition proceedings involving Indian agencies, Interpol and Omani authorities, a CBI team brought him to India from Muscat on November 1—116 days after his arrest.
The CBI is probing the Mahadev Book App cases after the Chhattisgarh government transferred 13 FIRs to the agency. Charge sheets have already been filed in two of those cases.
The Enforcement Directorate is conducting a parallel money-laundering investigation and has filed a prosecution complaint against him.
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai congratulated the CBI on the arrest and said it would lead to major revelations about the flow of protection money.
During the Delhi hearing, Chandrakar’s counsel questioned the legality of the CBI’s action, arguing that Oman had approved extradition only in the ED’s case and not the CBI’s.
The lawyer contended that prosecuting him in CBI matters would violate extradition conditions.
CBI counsel countered that the Raipur Special Court had already issued an open-ended non-bailable warrant, that the ED and CBI cases are interlinked, and that questions of prosecutorial competence would be decided in Raipur.
The Delhi court was only required to rule on transit remand. According to investigators, Chandrakar, along with Ravi Uppal and associates, promoted and operated the Mahadev network through multiple platforms and panels. Betting proceeds were allegedly collected through various bank accounts and routed to the UAE, with the network controlled from Dubai. Several young people from Chhattisgarh were reportedly employed as staff and managers.
While in Omani custody, Chandrakar had claimed his life would be in danger in an Indian jail and sought protection for his family, alleging threats from powerful figures linked to the betting network. He is now expected to face questioning first by the CBI and subsequently by the ED on the basis of evidence already collected. The Raipur Special Court will decide the next steps, including the scope of proceedings under the extradition terms.