Sourabh Chandrakar, founder of the alleged ₹6,000-crore Mahadev online betting syndicate and a declared fugitive, has been arrested in Oman after allegedly entering the country on a forged Indonesian passport. Officials said India has sought his extradition.
Chandrakar, who is in his 30s, was detained by the Royal Oman Police several weeks ago on the basis of an Interpol Red Notice issued at the request of the Enforcement Directorate and the Chhattisgarh Police. He is currently lodged at Muscat’s Al Khoud detention centre.
Extradition Request Sent to Oman
Oman has also registered a separate criminal case against Chandrakar over the alleged use of a forged passport and illegal entry into the country.
The Central Bureau of Investigation last week sent a formal extradition request to Omani authorities through the Ministry of External Affairs. Officials said the request was accompanied by a judicial dossier translated into Arabic, as required under Omani law.
A joint CBI-ED team is expected to travel to Muscat once an Omani court clears the extradition request.
Earlier Detention in Dubai
Chandrakar was earlier detained by UAE authorities in Dubai in 2024 on an Interpol Red Notice. However, he was released after India’s extradition request was not accepted.
Officials said Chandrakar’s plea to have the Red Notice withdrawn was later rejected by Interpol’s Commission for the Control of Files, which held that the case related to financial crime and not political persecution.
The latest arrest has revived India’s effort to bring him back in connection with the Mahadev online betting case.
ED Probe Into Betting Syndicate
According to the Enforcement Directorate, the Mahadev syndicate operated thousands of online betting “panels” across India through platforms such as Tiger Exchange, Gold365 and Laser247.
The agency has alleged that the network generated hundreds of crores of rupees every day and implicated senior Chhattisgarh politicians and bureaucrats. The ED has so far arrested 13 people and named 74 entities as accused in five charge sheets filed before a special court in Raipur.
In March, the ED said it had attached assets worth ₹1,700 crore linked to Chandrakar, mostly in Dubai, including holdings in the Burj Khalifa. Co-founder Ravi Uppal, who allegedly ran the network with Chandrakar from Dubai after the duo fled India in 2019, is reported to have relocated to Vanuatu after UAE authorities closed extradition proceedings against him.
