Mahadev app mastermind Sourabh Chandrakar arrested in Oman: Inside the ₹240-crore-a-day betting empire | WION Decodes

For nearly six years, Indian agencies have chased Sourabh Chandrakar across countries. Now, with the alleged mastermind of the Mahadev betting app detained in Oman, authorities finally have a chance to bring one of India's most wanted economic fugitives back home.

But the bigger story isn't where Chandrakar was caught. It is how two men from Chhattisgarh allegedly built one of India's biggest illegal online betting empires, operating from luxury villas in Dubai while handling bets worth hundreds of crores every day.

Here's how investigators say the Mahadev network actually worked.

Step 1: Build one brand, operate hundreds of betting platforms

According to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Mahadev Online Book wasn't just a single betting app.

It "operated as a large-scale international betting syndicate", in other words, the Mahadev app functioned as an umbrella network controlling dozens of betting websites and exchanges. This included platforms and domain names such as Tiger Exchange, Gold365 and Laser247.

Users could allegedly place bets on almost anything, from cricket, football and tennis to poker, card games, elections and other games of chance.

Even after several platforms were blocked by Indian authorities, investigators say fresh domains continued appearing under different names.

Step 2: Run India from Dubai

The brains behind the operation, Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, allegedly shifted to Dubai around 2019. From there, investigators say they controlled the entire network without physically operating in India.

According to the ED, the duo rented nearly 20 villas in Dubai that housed around 3,500 employees managing customer support, betting operations, payments and technical infrastructure.

Step 3: Franchise the betting business

Unlike a traditional betting website, Mahadev allegedly expanded through a franchise model.

The ED says local operators across India were given independent "panels" or "branches." In its press release dated 25 March 2026, the ED noted, "The operation was structured through a franchise-based network of 'Panels' or ‘Branches’ operated by associates across India, while the main promoters Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal operated and controlled the betting syndicate from Dubai."

These franchisees handled customers, collected bets and managed day-to-day gambling activity in their regions.

In return, investigators allege Chandrakar and Uppal retained 70 to 75 per cent of the profits, while the remaining revenue was "distributed among panel operators managing the betting operations".

This allowed Chandrakar and Uppal to grow the network rapidly without directly managing every betting operation.

Step 4: Move money through thousands of dummy accounts

Handling illegal gambling money posed another challenge.

Investigators claim the syndicate solved it by creating thousands of mule bank accounts using KYC documents belonging to unsuspecting individuals.

"The Proceeds of Crime (PoC) generated from commission of scheduled offences were systematically layered through thousands of mules or dummy bank accounts opened using KYC documents of unsuspecting individuals."

Money from bettors would first enter these accounts, making it harder for authorities to trace the original source. Notably, this layering process is a common technique in money laundering because it breaks the direct trail between the crime and the final beneficiary.

Step 5: Send the money abroad to turn black money white

Once the funds were split across thousands of accounts, investigators say they were moved outside India using multiple channels.

According to the ED, "Subsequently, the illicit funds were transferred outside India through hawala channels, cryptocurrency transactions and complex financial layering mechanisms, and were eventually invested in high-value movable and immovable assets in the UAE and India."

Step 6: Voilà! ₹240-crore-a-day operation

The sheer size of the alleged operation is what stunned investigators. According to the ED's chargesheet, Mahadev was operating around 3,200 betting panels across India.

Together, these allegedly generated around ₹240 crore every day. If accurate, that would make it one of India's largest illegal betting syndicates.

Chandrakar was arrested and let go earlier

Based on an Interpol red notice, the alleged mastermind, Chandrakar, was briefly detained in Dubai in 2024, but the extradition request never materialised, and he was eventually released.

Now, officials say he has been detained in Oman after allegedly travelling on a fake passport issued by a Southeast Asian country.

Unlike the UAE case, India has an operational extradition treaty with Oman, raising hopes that Chandrakar may finally be brought back to face trial.

What happens next?

Chandrakar's detention does not end the Mahadev investigation. The CBI, the ED and Chhattisgarh Police continue to investigate the wider network, including alleged money laundering, public servants, financial facilitators and the sprawling franchise structure that investigators say kept the betting empire running even after repeated government crackdowns.

If extradited, Chandrakar's questioning could provide investigators with their clearest picture yet of how one of India's biggest alleged online betting syndicates was built, financed and operated across borders.