Mahadev app promoter detained in Oman; India seeks repatriation

New Delhi, Sourabh Chandrakar, the absconding founder and prime accused in the Mahadev betting app syndicate, has been detained in Oman, and India is trying to either get him extradited or deported from that country, officials said on Wednesday.

They said Chandrakar, a Chhattisgarh resident who is in his 30s, was detained by the Royal Oman Police a few weeks ago based on an Interpol Red Notice issued against him by Indian probe agencies like the ED and Chhattisgarh Police.

The ED, a federal anti-money laundering probe agency, previously stated that the Mahadev betting app case involves various high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh and the alleged proceeds of crime generated in this case stand at Rs 6,000 crore.


Investigators following his trail, apart from that of his partner and co-founder of the app Ravi Uppal, told PTI that informal inputs suggest Chandrakar was allegedly travelling on a passport from a Southeast Asian country.

Indian agencies last stated that Chandrakar's location was Dubai where UAE authorities had similarly detained him in 2024, but he was subsequently released. Meanwhile, they claimed Uppal fled from Dubai to Vanuatu, an archipelagic country in the South Pacific Ocean.

Officials said India is trying to either extradite or deport him from Oman given the gravity of the offences he faces. India and Oman share a good bilateral relationship and officials expressed confidence that they will succeed.

Authorities pointed to the recent implementation of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries on June 1 to boost economic ties. The two way trade between India and Oman stood at $11.2 billion during 2025-26.

Chandrakar reportedly left for Dubai in 2019. Before that, he used to run a juice shop named "Juice Factory" with his brother in the Bhillai town of Chhattisgarh's Durg district.

Chandrakar and Uppal, through a statement issued a few years back, had vehemently denied any association with the alleged betting racket.

In March, the ED said it had attached assets worth Rs 1,700 crore, majorly located in Dubai -- including in the iconic and world's tallest building Burj Khalifa -- belonging to Chandrakar and his linked entities.

According to the ED, the Mahadev app operated as a large-scale international betting syndicate that facilitated alleged illegal betting through multiple online platforms and domain names such as 'Tiger Exchange', 'Gold365' and 'Laser247'.

The operation was structured through a franchise-based network of 'panels' and 'branches' operated by associates across India while, main promoters Chandrakar and Uppal operated and controlled the betting syndicate from Dubai, it said.

The agency has arrested 13 people as part of this investigation, naming a total of 74 entities as accused in the five charge sheets filed before a special PMLA court in Raipur (Chhattisgarh) till now.

It has also moved a court seeking a fugitive economic offender (under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018) tag for Chandrakar, Uppal and others named in the case like Anil Agrawal alias Atul and Shubham Soni.