New Delhi [India], April 17 (HBTV): Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai has accused Congress leader and former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel of taking ‘protection money’ in connection with the Mahadev betting app scam. The remarks came in response to Baghel’s allegations that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was conspiring against him.
‘What Bhupesh Baghel said—that the BJP wants to assassinate him politically and that the Mahadev betting app case is a conspiracy—is completely wrong and baseless. Investigations have been conducted, whether it is the coal scam or the liquor scam. His people were involved and are now in jail. In the Mahadev betting app scam, he is accused of taking protection money. If all this is a lie, then why are his people not getting bail? He should not say that something unfair is happening to him,’ Sai said in an interview with ANI.
Referring to Baghel’s term in office, Sai added:‘During his regime, there used to be two counters at liquor shops. The accounts of one counter went to the government, and the accounts of the other went to his ministers.’
The chief minister also spoke on the issue of religious conversions, describing them as a stain on the state.
‘Religious conversion is like kalank for Chhattisgarh. In the area I come from, Jashpur, there are many missionaries. A lot of religious conversions used to take place as they took advantage of people’s poverty. After we formed the government, we restricted this, but now they have started holding Changai Sabha. They claim they will free people from disease. This is done by a Christian missionary,’ he said.
When asked about the protection of journalists, Sai said the government acted swiftly in the Bijapur journalist attack case.
‘In the previous government, journalists were attacked, but our government has given them protection. No such incident has happened after our government came to power. In one incident in Bijapur, where a journalist was attacked, the state government immediately took action and arrested the accused,’ he said.
On the subject of mining, the chief minister said that Chhattisgarh is rich in mineral resources.
‘There is iron ore, coal, tin, gold, diamond... The situation of mining mafias is not like it used to be—it has improved a lot. Now everything is going well,’ he said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has named former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel as one of the accused in the Mahadev betting app case. On April 1, the CBI made public its First Information Report (FIR) in connection with the Mahadev online betting app.
According to the FIR, a total of 21 people have been named as accused, including Ravi Uppal, Shubham Soni (Pintu), Chandra Bhushan Verma, Assem Das, Satish Chandrakar, Nitish Deewan, Saurabh Chandrakar, Anil Agarwal (Atul Agarwal), Vikas Chhapriya, Rohit Gaulati, Vishal Ahuja, Dheeraj Ahuja, Anil Kumar Dammani, Sunil Kumar Dammani, Bhim Singh Yadav, Harishankar Tibrewal, Surendra Bagi, Suraj Chokhani, and two unknown persons, including a police officer.
The CBI has charged the accused under Sections 120(B), 420, 467, and 468 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC); Sections 11, 7, 8, and 4 of the Chhattisgarh Gambling (Prohibition) Act, 2002; and Section 4(A) of the Public Gambling Act.
On March 26, the agency conducted a 14-hour search at the residence of Bhupesh Baghel and confiscated three phones.
The FIR, originally registered on March 4, 2024, alleges that Mahadev Online Book is operating illegal betting services. The complaint also claims that other websites are being run in association with the promoters of the Mahadev app, including Skyexchange, allegedly operated by Hari Shankar Tibrewal in collaboration with Mahadev Online Book.
The platform is alleged to provide illegal betting services in various live games, including poker, card games, games of chance, and sports betting. The app rose to prominence around 2019–2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown.
(ANI)