New Delhi:
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had been accused of taking Rs 508 crore within the Mahadev betting app case by an alleged courier arrested by the Enforcement Directorate. However the ‘courier’, Asim Das, has now backtracked and claimed that he by no means delivered money to politicians and has been framed.
Das was arrested with over Rs 5 crore in money on November 3, 4 days forward of the primary section of Chhattisgarh meeting elections. ED stated that Das claimed to be a courier and likewise stated that the promoters of the Mahadev Betting app had made funds of Rs 508 crore to Mr Baghel. The probe company had stated that the startling allegations had been a matter of investigation.
However Das has denied making any such allegations. In a letter written from jail to the Director of ED, Das stated that he was being framed and officers had coerced into signing an announcement in English, a language he doesn’t perceive.
Within the letter, he claimed that Shubham Soni, the mastermind behind the unlawful app, was his childhood buddy. He had visited Dubai twice in October this 12 months on Soni’s insistence.
Das wrote that Soni was keen on beginning a development enterprise in Chhattisgarh and requested him to work for him. The Mahadev promoter promised to rearrange cash for the enterprise.
“On the day I landed on the Raipur airport, I used to be requested to choose up a automobile and verify right into a resort on VIP Highway. I used to be instructed to park the automobile at a selected spot, the place an individual later put baggage of money within the automobile and left,” he wrote.
“I used to be requested over the cellphone to return to my resort room and after a while ED officers got here to my room and took me with them. Later, I noticed that I’m being implicated. I’ve by no means equipped cash or another help to any political leaders or employees,” Mr Das wrote.
The Mahadev app got here below the crosshairs of probe companies after a Rs 200-crore wedding ceremony within the UAE in February, paid for fully in money.
One of many accused, arrested by ED, had earlier claimed that police, politicians, and bureaucrats got a stake within the app to maintain the betting and hawala syndicate working.
Prime Bollywood actors Ranbir Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor, who’ve appeared in advertisements for the app, are additionally being questioned by the ED.