In December 2023, Ravi Uppal, one of the two chief suspects in the Mahadev multi-crore online betting application case, was arrested in Dubai and is likely to be deported to India.
Interpol issued a Red Corner Notice, which led to Uppal’s arrest. Forty-five days later, he was freed still under supervision due to the pending extradition action that was awaited.
Mahadev App Accused Ravi Uppal Goes Missing
Now project to November 2025, and not only is Ravi Uppal not even in the custody of Indian authorities, but he is also reportedly missing, and his extradition has been put on hold.
Particularly, one publication reported that Uppal left the United Arab Emirates for an unknown destination. There was also no additional information of his whereabouts or destination, as the sources claimed, other than the suggestion to suspend the extradition process.
On an unofficial level, the UAE has (according to reports) rejected the request to extradite Uppal because some of the documents were not received in time. Nevertheless, the sources of Enforcement Directorate denied that it was so, and all necessary documents were delivered and at the right time.
In any case, his disappearance becomes a drag to the ED who is researching him and his accomplice, Sourabh Chandrakar, who at the moment remains in the custody of the Dubai authorities.
In December 2024 Chandrakar was arrested and put on house arrest. Since, sources indicated, no developments since India had also sought his extradition, as in the case of Uppal.
Mahadev Betting App Accused: Where Is Ravi Uppal?
Uppal is a South Pacific Island country called Vanuatu that has its capital Port Vila, which is almost 2000km away in distance compared to the nearest major country, Australia.
The sources confirmed to a publication Uppal and Chandrakar, who is also a purported Vanuatuan citizen also bought properties in the islands, and they are planning to widen their criminal network.
Notably, Vanuatu lacks an extradition Agreement with India. Coincidentally, in March Vanuatu revoked a passport of a wanted Indian businessman Lalit Modi who was issued with a passport to enable him to visit the country in search of business opportunities. Vanuatu government claimed that it was not a valid excuse to flee extradition by becoming a citizen of the country.
What is the Mahdev Betting App Case?
The Mahadev app was established in 2018 and is said to have made a profit of Rs 200 crore a day.
The criminal system was centered on the 6,000 crore betting network, which was conducted through 3,200 panel spread all over the country. Sources reported that daily bets were usually over Rs 240 crore.
Up to 3,500 individuals were engaged in the operations in Dubai, and call centres were based in other cities within Chhattisgarh in India, and Malaysia and Thailand.
Chandrakar and Uppal were known and expected to have connections with police, bureaucrats and politicians and there were regular payments made so that the app could not be tracked by the investigating agencies.
At the time the case was broken two years ago, it scalded even senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel who was then running to be re-elected. He has been charged with being given Rs 508 crore. Baghel has been refusing to be involved in this.
