UAE police arrest Mahadev app co-promoter Ravi Uppal as India seeks his extradition

UPDATE - follow-up to Mahadev app co-promoter Ravi Uppal arrested in UAE, India moves for his extradition: Dubai authorities have arrested 46-year-old Ravi Uppal, the co-promoter of the Mahadev online betting app, acting on an Interpol Red Notice issued by Indian agencies.

Extradition And Arrests

Indian probe agencies including the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate are now working to bring Mr. Uppal back to India. This arrest follows the return of his fellow promoter Saurabh Chandrakar from Oman on November 1 after a local court permitted his extradition in an ongoing money-laundering case. A special court in Raipur granted the CBI eight-day custody of Mr. Chandrakar on Wednesday. Investigators state that both men hail from Bhilai town in the Durg district of Chhattisgarh.

Charges And Operations

Probe agencies charged Mr. Uppal in October 2023, accusing him of generating, enjoying, and hiding proceeds of crime. Officials allege he managed the delivery of illegal money to politicians and bureaucrats in Chhattisgarh through an assistant sub-inspector of police named Chandrabhushan Verma and others. Investigators also claim that both Mr. Uppal and Mr. Chandrakar managed to obtain passports from Vanuatu, a country in the South Pacific Ocean. The Mahadev Online Book app started operations in 2019 and 2020, saw a sharp rise in users during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, and has allegedly generated crime proceeds worth 80,000 crore rupees since 2019.

Context

Interpol Red Notices are requests to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition or similar legal action. Extradition processes involve formal legal requests between governments to transfer a fugitive back to the country where they face criminal charges.