The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Sunday said that it had issued blocking orders against 22 “illegal betting apps and websites”, including Mahadev Book Online and Reddyannaprestopro at the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) request. “The action follows investigations conducted by the ED against [an] illegal betting app syndicate and subsequent raids on Mahadev Book in Chhattisgarh, revealing the app’s unlawful operations,” the Union government said.
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Bhim Singh Yadav, a constable in the Chhattisgarh Police, and one Asim Das are currently in custody for these charges, arrested under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for allegedly money laundering.
Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar took a broadside against the Chhattisgarh government, chiding it for not acting on the app. “Chhattisgarh Government had all the power to recommend shutting down of [the] website/app under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act,” Mr. Chandrasekhar said in a press statement.
“However, they did not do so, and no such request [was] made by the State government while they have been investigating it for [the] last 1.5 years,” he said.
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The ED is probing an allegation that the promoters of the Mahadev app had facilitated a ₹508 crore payment to “one politician ‘Baghel’,” an apparent reference to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. The State is heading for its Assembly election this month, with the first round of polling scheduled on Tuesday.