In a significant development in the Mahadev betting app case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has made two more arrests, further intensifying its probe into the alleged money laundering and illicit activities associated with the app.
Suraj Chokhani, the Managing Director of Ability Games Ltd Company, and Girish Talreja, known to be suspected key players in the case, were remanded to one-day judicial custody by the Raipur Court on Sunday.
The recent arrests follow the arrest of Nitish Diwan in the same money laundering case.
Saurabh Pandey, the lawyer representing the ED, revealed that the statements of Chokhani and Talreja were recorded to validate the claims made by Diwan. However, their statements reportedly contradicted the evidence in possession of the ED, leading to their arrest.
On the arrest of two persons in connection with the Mahadev betting app case, the lawyer representing ED in the case, Saurabh Pandey said, "The last arrest that we made in this money laundering case was of Nitish Diwan. To verify the factual correctness of the statements made by him, the statements of these two have been recorded but they are making statements contradictory to the evidence that we have and so they were arrested. The court has granted a one-day judicial remand, however, we had demanded a 14-day custodial remand."
According to Mr Pandey, Suraj Chokhani, the Managing Director of Ability Games Ltd Company, is a close associate of Tibrewal, a hawala operator.
"An ID by the name Lotus 365 is there which works for the Mahadev app. Girish Talreja along with Saurabh Chandrakhar used to manage this ID and involved in betting. Suraj Chokhani is closely linked with Hari Shankar Tibrewal who is associated with a lot of people involved in the Mahadev app betting case." Mr Pandey said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) last week conducted raids at more than 15 locations across the country as part of its ongoing money laundering investigation into the Mahadev online betting and gaming app case.
Earlier, the ED had arrested alleged accused Asim Das, Bheem Singh Yadav, Chandrabhushan Verma, Anil Kumar Agrawal and Sunil Dammani, and Satish Chandrakar. The agency stated that the illicit funds generated by the app were used for bribing politicians and bureaucrats.
Several celebrities and Bollywood actors have also been summoned by the agency for questioning regarding their connections with the online betting platform and the payment methods involved.
The agency stated that the illicit funds generated by the app were used for bribing politicians and bureaucrats.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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