Mahadev App case: Ranbir Kapoor seeks 2 weeks' time to respond to ED summons

Ranbir Kapoor/ mid-day archives

A day after he was issued a summons by the Enforcement Directorate in the Mahadev App case, actor Ranbir Kapoor has sought two weeks' time to respond to the same. The Rockstar actor was asked to appear before the federal agency on October 6 and cooperate with the ongoing probe.

Kapoor is alleged to have been involved in promotional activities for the app and to have received substantial sums of money from the promoters - in cash and cheques. The exact amount he received has not been disclosed.

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The ED official earlier told mid-day.com that they were probing into all possible aspects as they believe "a substantial amount of money laundering has been directed towards celebrities involved in promoting the app".

The ED revealed that many celebrities including Tiger Shroff, Sunny Leone, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Atif Aslam, Neha Kakkar, Vishal Dadlani, Ali Asgar, Bharti Singh, Bhagyashree, and Pulkit, attended the extravagant wedding of Mahadev app promoter Saurabh Chandrakar in Al Khaimah (RAK), UAE, earlier this year. They were allegedly compensated in cash through an event management company that the ED suspects are linked to the proceeds of the crime.

The ED probe stated that the Mahadev app, hosted in Germany, operates multiple call centres in Nepal, Dubai and Sri Lanka. Additionally, the same promoters are involved in running four more similar apps.

The main promoters of Mahadev Online Book, Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal reportedly operate their business from Dubai and offer franchising opportunities on a 70-30 profit-sharing basis. Multiple cases have been registered against the duo in Raipur, Chhattisgarh and the ED has unearthed some political links of the accused, having recently recorded the statement of Vinod Verma, an officer on special duty for Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.

The ED has stated large-scale hawala operations transfer betting proceeds to offshore accounts, while significant cash expenditures are made in India for advertising and self-promotion to attract new users and franchise seekers.

In September, the ED conducted multiple raids at 39 locations in Mumbai, Raipur, Bhopal, and Kolkata, seizing property worth Rs 417 crore. They previously stated that Chandrakar spent Rs 200 crore for his wedding in Dubai which involved private jets, celebrity performances and payments made through hawala channels and said they have digital evidence for the same. A total of Rs 112 crore cash was delivered via hawala to an event management company, and Rs 42 crore cash was spent on hotel bookings in AEDs (United Arab Emirates Dirham), as per the ED's statement in September.