New Delhi: Sourabh Chandrakar, co-founder of the infamous Rs 6,000-crore Mahadev online betting syndicate, has been detained by the Royal Oman Police in Muscat.
Executed via an Interpol Red Notice, it marks a major breakthrough for Indian law enforcement after years of tracking the fugitive across continents. Chandrakar, who is in his early 30s and originally ran a juice corner called “Juice Factory” in Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, was taken into custody after attempting to enter Oman using a forged Indonesian passport.
According to reports, Oman authorities have registered a separate criminal case against Chandrakar for illegal entry and passport forgery. He is currently being held at Muscat’s high-security Al Khoud detention centre.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has already dispatched a formal extradition request via the Ministry of External Affairs. The request includes a comprehensive judicial dossier translated into Arabic to meet local legal compliance. A joint team of CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials is expected to fly to Muscat as soon as an Omani court signs off on the request.
This is not Chandrakar’s first brush with international detention. In 2024, he was placed under house arrest by UAE authorities in Dubai under a separate Red Notice. However, he was subsequently released when India’s previous extradition request failed to materialise. Following his release, Chandrakar tried to have Interpol withdraw his Red Notice, but the request was flatly rejected on the grounds that his offences constitute financial crime rather than political persecution.
Indian officials express high confidence in this fresh repatriation bid, citing strong bilateral ties and the newly minted Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that came into effect on June 1 to boost economic relations.
Inside the Rs 6,000-Crore Empire
The ED alleges that the Mahadev Online Book network operated as a highly structured, franchise-based international gambling operation. At its peak, the syndicate was pulling in an estimated Rs 200 crore to Rs 240 crore daily through subsidiary platforms like ‘Tiger Exchange’, ‘Gold365’, and ‘Laser247’. The promoters managed operations from luxury setups in Dubai, selling thousands of “panels” and “branches” to local operators across India on a 70-30 profit-sharing split. Money was allegedly laundered through dummy bank accounts and complex hawala networks, directly implicating high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats in Chhattisgarh.
In March, the ED provisionally attached assets valued at Rs 1,700 crore linked directly to Chandrakar, including high-end real estate holdings inside Dubai’s iconic Burj Khalifa. To date, the agency has arrested 13 individuals and formally named 74 corporate and individual entities across five charge sheets submitted to a special PMLA court in Raipur. Indian agencies are also actively petitioning the judiciary to officially designate Chandrakar, Uppal, and key associates like Shubham Soni as “Fugitive Economic Offenders” under the 2018 Act to initiate further global asset seizures. Both Chandrakar and Uppal have previously issued public statements denying any involvement in the racket.
