Raipur: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has intensified its probe into the Mahadev App case, which involves an online betting racket allegedly run by the promoters of the app. The ED has summoned two IPS officers of Chhattisgarh for questioning in connection with the case. The names of the officers have not been disclosed yet.
The ED is investigating the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and has arrested a youth named Aseem Das, who is accused of transferring huge amounts of money in the election-bound state of Chhattisgarh. The ED has seized Rs 5.39 crore from Das and has also recovered his phone and emails.
According to the ED, the phone and email analysis of Das and Shubham Soni, one of the main accused of the Mahadev Network, have revealed shocking allegations of bribing the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. The ED has claimed that the Mahadev App promoters have paid around Rs 508 crore to Baghel to date. However, the ED has also said that this is a matter of investigation and verification.
Meanwhile, Baghel has strongly denied the allegations and has accused the BJP of trying to defame him and his party. He has said that the BJP is scared of him and his popularity in the state. He has also pointed out that the BJP had earlier leveled similar charges against Himanta Biswa Sarma and Ajit Pawar, who later joined the BJP and became clean. He has challenged the ED to prove its charges against him.
Baghel has also faced criticism from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who recently addressed an election rally in Durg, Chhattisgarh. Modi had slammed the Congress for indulging in corruption through illegal betting apps and said that the Congress has not even spared Mahadev, the Hindu god of destruction. He had urged the people of Chhattisgarh to vote for the BJP and bring a change in the state.
