Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel has questioned the Centre's delay in banning the controversial Mahadev app despite an Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe into it. Baghel's response comes as the Centre on Sunday issued a blocking order against 22 illegal betting apps and websites.
The BJP had accused Baghel of being the patron of the controversial app. Just after the ban, the saffron party, fighting to wrest power in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, also released a video purportedly of Shubham Soni, an accused in the Mahadev app case, claiming he was the app's owner and had the "proof" of paying Rs 508 crore to Baghel.
The chief minister, however, took to X to seek Soni's arrest. "Eventually, the Central Government came to its senses and decided to ban the 'Mahadev App'. I have been asking for several months as to why the central government was not banning this betting app. I had even said that perhaps the ban is not being imposed due to the greed of 28 per cent GST or the BJP has done dealings with the app operators," Baghel alleged.
The chief minister also called for the arrest and extradition of the app operators from Dubai. "The Chhattisgarh Police was the first to issue a look-out notice against him. Chhattisgarh Police would also like to remand and interrogate him because all cases have been registered against him here," he said.
'CM and his son'
The video released by the BJP showed Shubham Soni, claiming to be the owner of the app, stating he paid Rs 508 crore so far to Baghel. The video was released by BJP's central media convener Siddharthnath Singh.
In the video, Soni alleges that narrates the entire story of the Mahadev app and the people connected to the app. He added that CM Baghel, his son Bittu, his political advisor Vinod Verma and an IPS officer were involved in this syndicate.
"Despite giving money, my work is not getting done. I don't understand what to do with this system. ED has started action against me. My last request to our Indian government is to help me. I am trapped in this political system. I want to get out of it. I have evidence regarding the money I have given. Please help me. I want to go back to India. I am scared," he says.
Congress state communication wing president Sushi Anand Shukla termed the video as a conspiracy by the BJP "which has stooped so low because it is scared of Congress".
"The BJP has failed to take on Congress in the state and therefore it has resorted to such conspiracies. Anyone can release a video and claim himself to be the owner of the Mahadev app while Saurabh Chandrakar is said to be the main accused in the case. People of Chhattisgarh will teach a lesson to BJP in the elections," Shukla said.
