Booked in Mahadev App case, former Chhattisgarh CM Baghel says move aimed at influencing Lok Sabha polls

Former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel named in FIR related to Mahadev app scam, denies allegations, questions timing and content.

Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel has been named in a first information report (FIR) registered by the State’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in connection with the alleged Mahadev app online betting scam, officials said on Sunday. 

Mr. Baghel, who is the Congress candidate for the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha constituency, denied the allegations, saying that they were intended to tarnish his reputation and mitigate the electoral impact of his candidacy on the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The FIR, registered on March 4, is based on a probe report submitted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has been investigating a money laundering case related to the Mahadev app for over a year. It lists 21 accused, including Mahadev app promoters Ravi Uppal, Saurabh Chandrakar, Shubham Soni, and Anil Kumar Agrawal, all of whom have booked under legal provisions pertaining to cheating and forgery. 

Unnamed “bureaucrats concerned, police officials, officers on special duty (OSD), and other unidentified private people” have also been entered in the accused column.

While it does not go into the specific allegations against the former CM, the FIR does mention that ”the promoters of the Mahadev Book app received protection from various police, administrative officials, and influential political figures to prevent legal action against their illegal activities related to the online betting app. As a result, they regularly received substantial amounts of protection money.” 

According to the FIR, hawala operators were used to arrange and distribute this illicit money, and police officers and employees were also used as couriers to distribute the protection money. “The amount of protection money reached police officers/employees and influential political figures through hawala operators, who then distributed it to the relevant police/administrative officials and influential political figures,” it adds. 

Corruption allegations, including the Mahadev app charges, were a major component of the BJP’s campaign against Mr. Baghel, who ruled the State between 2018 and late 2023. Days before the first phase of last year’s Assembly polls, a driver named Asim Das had claimed that he was tasked by Mr. Soni to deliver a substantial amount of cash (₹5.39 crore) to Mr. Baghel, who has refuted the allegations.