Sourabh Chandrakar, one of the promoters of the Mahadev online betting app, has been put under “house detention” in Dubai while Indian probe agencies, including ED, have been “alerted” and are working through diplomatic channels to get him deported, official sources said on Wednesday.

The Enforcement Directorate may also file a fresh charge sheet in this multi-crore money laundering case soon, they said.

The development comes weeks after Ravi Uppal, another promoter of the betting and gaming app, was detained by local authorities in Dubai on a red notice (RN) issued by Interpol at the behest of the ED.

The sources said Chandrakar’s location in Dubai has been intimated to the federal agency and he has been put under “house detention”.

Indian agencies are working, through diplomatic channels, to secure the deportation or extradition of the two who are vital to the money laundering and police investigation into the alleged illegal activities of the ‘Mahadev Book Online’ app that also have political links in Chhattisgarh and elsewhere, the sources said.

The ED is also expected to file a fresh (supplementary) charge sheet in this case against two people arrested by it in November from Chhattisgarh – alleged cash courier Asim Das and police constable Bheem Yadav.

The agency, in its first charge sheet filed before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Raipur, had named Chandrakar and Uppal along with some others.

In this charge sheet, it had quoted the statement of Dilip Chandrakar, the uncle of Sourabh Chandrakar, that before Sourabh went to Dubai in 2019 he ran a juice shop named ‘juice factory’ along with his brother in Bhillai town of Chhattisgarh.

The ED claimed Sourabh Chandrakar got married at Ras Al Khaimah, UAE in February 2023 and about Rs 200 crore “in cash” were spent for this event in which private jets were hired to ferry his relatives from India to the UAE and celebrities were paid to perform.

Uppal, 43, was detained last week in Dubai.

Both businessmen are being probed by the ED in the money laundering case linked to alleged illegal betting through online apps, apart from investigations by the Chhattisgarh and Mumbai Police Crime Branch.

A red notice was issued against the two by Interpol on the basis of the ED’s request that was based on a court-issued non-bailable warrant.

The projected proceeds of crime in this case are about Rs 6,000 crore, according to the ED.

The agency had claimed in November, just before the first phase of Chhattisgarh assembly polls, that forensic analysis and statement made by a ‘cash courier’ Asim Das have led to “startling allegations” that Mahadev betting app promoters have paid about Rs 508 crore to former Chhattisgarh chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel, adding that these allegations were “subject matter of investigation”.

Das had later submitted before the special court in Raipur that he had been framed as part of a conspiracy and he had never delivered cash to politicians.

The ED investigation has shown that the Mahadev Online Book App is run from a central head office in the UAE, officials said. It operates by franchising “Panel/Branches” to their known associates on a 70-30 per cent profit ratio, it had said.

Large-scale hawala operations are done to siphon off the proceeds of betting to off-shore accounts, it had said.

Large expenditure in cash is also being done in India for advertising betting websites to attract new users and franchise (panel) seekers, the ED had said.

The company promoters hail from Bhilai in Chhattisgarh and the Mahadev online book betting application is an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites, it is alleged.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The national capital has reported the first case of JN.1 variant infection, said Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj.

“Delhi has reported the first case of JN.1, a Sub-Variant of Omicron. Out of the 3 samples sent for Genome Sequencing, one is JN.1 and the other two are Omicron,” Mr Bharadwaj told ANI.

Meanwhile, a total of 109 JN.1 COVID variant cases have been reported in the country as of December 26, Health Ministry sources said on Wednesday.

Amid rising concerns over the emergence of the new variant of the coronavirus, Dr Bobby Bhalotra, Vice Chairman in the Department of Chest Medicine, Gangaram Hospital, said, “The new variants are so far mild; they are from the family of the Omicron virus. So, the cases are not too much to be worried about; there is no panic as such but yes, it is a sign that it has come back again. It may flourish because it is more infectious than the normal COVID virus so we have to start taking precautions. Precaution and prevention are better than cures. Take precautions so that doesn’t spread for them.”

“There is an increase in cases of respiratory illness in OPD of 20-30 per cent due to weather changes, viral illness and an increase in pollution in the national capital,” he added.

He further said that patients who already have Asthma, interstitial lung disease, or COPD are getting exacerbations mostly from various viruses, including the H1N1 virus or swine flu.

“Despite having a vaccine against these viruses, especially H1N1, people are not getting themselves inoculated in time, and the immune system, which can be prevented by taking a vaccine, is not being used by many patients. So, this increasing exacerbation of breathing problems is due to viruses and more because of pollution. Pollution in our city is very high. And that impacts the lungs of patients, especially those with asthma, bronchitis, and interstitial lung disease. So that’s another reason why the number of patients is higher these days in the OPDs,” the Doctor said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently classified JN.1 as a variant of interest, distinct from its parent lineage BA.2.86. However, the global health body emphasised that the overall risk posed by JN.1 remains low based on current evidence.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

In visuals that could have been straight out of a Fast & Furious movie if they hadn’t been so disturbing, a Wagon R is seen locked in an accidental drift as it rams – in a horizontal position – into an unsuspecting man standing on the footpath. The man died of his injuries. 

The accident took place in Tundla in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad district three days ago, but the CCTV footage emerged on Wednesday. The footage shows 34-year-old Vishnu standing on the footpath, walking around and then looking down at his phone when the Wagon R, drifting horizontally, appears on the edge of the frame.

The sliding Wagon R careens into Vishnu at high speed, dragging him with it and leaving a dust cloud in its wake. 

A police official said the accident occurred at the Nawab intersection and Vishnu was a resident of Sirolia.