In the Mahadev betting and match-fixing case, the Mumbai Crime Branch has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for a thorough investigation. The case has been officially registered at the Central Cyber police station, and a 5-member SIT has been assembled to conduct the investigation.
According to senior officials of the Crime Branch, police officer Mangesh Desai will lead the investigation. Desai is attached to the North Cyber Cell. In addition to Mangesh, one officer from the Central Cyber Cell, one from the Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU), and one from the Anti-Extortion Cell are part of the SIT team. An officer associated with the Local Intelligence Unit (LIU) will join the team soon, and a few more officers will join if required for the investigation.
Skilled cyber officer chosen to lead the investigation
According to reliable sources, the IT section was imposed in the case due to its connection with online betting. Several pieces of evidence, including online betting, digital wallets, and cryptocurrency, are linked to the case. This prompted the officials to register the case with the Central Cyber police station.
Many pieces of evidence are related to online books and digital transactions which is why a skilled cyber officer was chosen to lead the investigation. In addition to these reasons, many of the 32 accused linked to this case are from other states. An officer from the Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU) is also involved in the investigation.
According to the FIR, the absconding accused Saurabh Chandrakar is associated with the D-company syndicate. Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Mustqeem is implicated in betting and other real estate businesses, specifically in Mumbai. Therefore, a senior officer from the Anti-Extortion Cell(AEC) was chosen for the SIT.
During the investigation, it was revealed that many suspects among the 32 accused are absconding and an officer from the Local Intelligence Unit(LIU) is joining the SIT together all relevant information about the accused.
According to the sources, SIT discovered that the www.khiladi.com web portal for betting is a subsidiary of the Mahadev betting app owned by Saurabh Chandrakar.
Financial trail and international transactions
This app is registered at Abraham de Veerstraat 9, Curacao. Several interconnected portals, including 11XPlay, 99exch, betbhai, BJ88, CBTF, coexch99, cricbet99, Fairbook247, Fairexchange, Fairplay, Laserbook247, Lotus365, winbuzz, readyanna, and sportsX9, as well as the app, were operated by different accused promoters. However, they are all linked as part of the Chandrakar syndicate.
According to sources, during the investigation of SIT, it was found that Chandrakar operates a betting business empire with a battalion of cyber experts working 24x7. The SIT has obtained information on several bitcoin, Ethercoin, and digital currency wallets, all of which are currently under investigation.
Dubai-Based businessman linked
According to reliable sources, the name of Mahesh Torani, a Dubai-based businessman, has surfaced in the investigation of SIT.
Chandrakar allegedly invested a significant amount in Dubai's real estate business, which is controlled by Torani. The SIT is actively investigating and verifying the facts regarding the investment in the Mira Road project.
Funds for this project were purportedly received by Amit Sharma, a close associate of Chandrakar and a business partner of Mustaqeem. According to the information, Sharma invested a substantial amount in different projects in Mira Road on the instructions of Mustaqeem.
Ongoing scrutiny of 32 key suspects
The SIT has identified key suspects from a comprehensive list of 32 people listed in the FIR. These include Amit Sharma, Subham Soni, Atul Agarwal, Chandrabhusan Verma, Chander Agrawal, actor and accused of betting Sahil Khan, director and accused Wasim Qureshi, Amit Majithia, and others.
According to sources, some of the accused are linked with a political party and are business partners with several ministers.
