Mahadev App 'courier' who named Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel backtracks: Report

Key witness in the Mahadev gambling app case has retracted his statement implicating Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, and claimed that he never delivered cash to politicians and has been framed. Asim Das was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate earlier this month for delivering the money to politicians for election funding.

The cash courier allegedly delivered Baghel Rs 508 crore, which he got from the Mahadev betting app promoters based in the UAE.

On November 3, Das was arrested with cash over Rs 5 crore, four days ahead of the first phase of Chhattisgarh assembly elections.

He was arrested from a hotel on VIP road in Raipur city, and during further probe, Rs 15.59 crore was allegedly found in different bank accounts.

Das has now denied making any such allegations, NDTV reported. In a letter written from jail to the Director of ED, Das said that he was being framed and officials had coerced him into signing a statement in English. He claimed that he doesn't understand English.

In the letter, Das said that Shubham Soni, the mastermind behind the illegal app, was his childhood friend. He had visited Dubai twice in October this year.

Das wrote that Soni was interested in starting a construction business in Chhattisgarh and asked him to work for him. The Mahadev promoter promised to arrange money for the business.

"On the day I landed at the Raipur airport, I was asked to pick up a car and check into a hotel on VIP Road. I was told to park the car at a specific spot, where a person later put bags of cash in the vehicle and left," he said in the letter.  

"I was asked over the phone to go back to my hotel room and after some time ED officials came to my room and took me with them. Later, I realized that I am being implicated. I have never supplied money or any other assistance to any political leaders or workers," Das further said.

The investigating agency started its probe in the Mahadev Book Online Betting App syndicate in July 2022 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The agency alleged that the promoters of the app – identified as Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal – are based overseas and remotely ran illegal betting operations with proceeds of crimes running into several thousand crores.

The Congress party has accused the ED of targeting the state government in Chhattisgarh. 

A day after Das was arrest, a video of Soni surfaced on social media, which showed that he is claiming that he had paid Rs 508 crore to CM Baghel as protection money to run the gambling app. Baghel denied the charge and made counter allegations against the BJP and ED.