The local crime branch of Gujarat police has uncovered crores of transactions related to online cricket betting in Gandhinagar’s Randesan area conducted through illegal betting app Mahadev Book.

During the raid, the police arrested 17 individuals operating the racket from an apartment. and seized several laptops, mobile phones and account books containing information of transactions and bets taken.

Further, browsing through some of the mobile phones and laptops revealed that all the transactions involved the Mahadev Book betting app. An app called ‘Floxi Pay’ was used to store data collected in Mahadev Book from different transactions.

Bank accounts were created on a daily basis in which the betting proceeds were deposited. After that the money was transferred to Floxi Pay wallet which was subsequently sent to Dubai. According to the police who have hired cyber experts, the app is thoroughly encrypted.

After questioning the arrested individuals, the police informed that bank accounts were opened using false documents and the punters received online betting IDs from Dubai. Three of the main accused – Ravi Mali, Jeetu Mali and Sunil – are still on the run, according to a report by Divya Bhaskar.

The Mahadev Book betting network is spread across various states. Several reports of police arrests from states like Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and others have been surfacing in the recent past with the local people involved with network working under the instructions from Dubai.

Many of these people have been trained to operate the betting app in Dubai, returning to India to further grow the illegal betting network operations. Meanwhile, the mastermind behind the Mahadev Book betting app ‘Saurabh Chandrakar’ still remains in Dubai.

Even after the government banned the Mahadev Book website, the illegal betting platform has been using mirror domains to bypass the ban and continue operations during the lucrative IPL season.