Mumbai: The investigations carried out by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Mahadev betting app case has revealed that the prime accused, Saurabh Chandrakar, and his associate Ravi Uppal allegedly operated close to 60 illegal offshore gambling websites. Some of these websites include FairPlay, Reddy Anna, Lotus 365, Laser Book, Tiger Exchange, BetBook247, and Gold365, among others, states documents of the ED, that are in possession of the FPJ.
Promotional video for Fair Play
The promotional video for Fair Play betting reveals that the app was endorsed and promoted by Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor and several other prominent Bollywood and sports personalities. Among them is a former member of the Indian women's cricket team, a boxer, a former West Indian cricketer and an Indian badminton player. In the video, Kapoor played a leading role alongside a Bollywood actress to endorse the FairPlay betting app. Consequently, he was summoned by the ED.
Apart from Ranbir Kapoor, other celebrities such as Vivek Oberoi, Kajal Aggarwal, Karishma Tanna, Tusshar Kapoor, commentator Akash Chopra, former Indian pacer S Sreesanth, West Indian cricketer Chris Gayle and Afghanistan all-rounder Rashid Khan were found to be promoting and endorsing the second subsidiary app of the Mahadev app promoter.
According to the investigative agency, Shraddha, Qureshi, and Henna are alleged to have promoted the app, while Kapil Sharma entertained guests at the success party of the Mahadev app. FPJ possesses a short video from September 2022 at the Fairmont Hotel, where Kapil Sharma attended the success party of the Mahadev app and entertained the guests, saying, "Dher saari tarkee kare, mehnat karte rahe, aur jo bhi juaa khelte rahe, sab sahi ho aapka".
The promoters of the Mahadev app, Reddy Anna and FairPlay app's Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, are absconding.
Ranbir Kapoor asks for more time to appear before ED
Meanwhile, Kapoor has approached the ED requesting a two-week extension to appear before them. Actor Huma Qureshi and comedian Kapil Sharma have also formally approached the ED, seeking an extension to respond to the ED's summons for questioning.
According to ED officials, both Shraddha and Huma were summoned on October 6, while Henna Khan and Kapil Sharma were summoned to appear at the ED office in Raipur and Chhattisgarh on different dates.
Sources within the Raipur ED, speaking on the condition of anonymity, revealed that Huma Qureshi and Kapil Sharma sent an email requesting an additional 10 days to appear for questioning. They cited scheduling conflicts and prior commitments related to their shooting. Kapil Sharma specifically mentioned a prior commitment related to a foreign tour and scheduled shoots, requesting an exemption of 10 days.
As of now, the ED hasn't received any communication from Shraddha Kapoor and Henna Khan regarding their appearances. It remains unclear whether the agency will consider Huma and Kapil Sharma's request.
