Mahadev app, 21 other online betting apps banned in India amid ED probe

Already under the cosh from the ED, the illegal online betting app Mahadev Online Book, along with 21 other software and websites, was banned by the government on Sunday. In a statement, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said it had issued blocking orders against 22 illegal online betting apps and websites, including the popular Mahadev Book app and Reddyannaprestopro.

It said that the action was followed by the investigations conducted by the ED against illegal betting app syndicate and subsequent raids on Mahadev Book in Chhattisgarh, revealing the app’s unlawful operations. Accused Bhim Singh Yadav, working as a constable in the Chhattisgarh Police, and Asim Das are currently in custody, having been arrested under the sections of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, said, “Chhattisgarh government had all the power to recommend shutting down the website or app under Sec 69A IT Act. However, they did not do so and the state government made no such request while investigating it for the last 1.5 years. In fact, the first and only request has been received from ED and it has been acted upon. Nothing prevented the Chhattisgarh Government from making similar requests.”

The government action comes on a day when an accused in the Mahadev app case, in a video statement, claimed that Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had asked him to go to the UAE.

— Written with inputs from IANS