The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has raided angadiya entities across eight locations in Mumbai for alleged money laundering and delivering Rs 112 crore in cash to an event management firm named M/s R-1 Events Pvt Ltd which is connected to the Mahadev Book illegal betting app.

Angadiyas are informal couriers used to transport liquid cash and precious metals by jewellers, bullion traders, and other businesses in exchange of a small amount of fee. They operate as parallel banking channels.

The money that was delivered to the event management firm in Mumbai’s Malad was responsible for wedding arrangements of Saurabh Chandrakar, the mastermind of Mahadev Book illegal betting app. The wedding took place in Dubai in February this year and hundreds of crores of illegal betting proceeds were allegedly spent by the Mahadev Book operators on it.

“Payments made to the event management firm for the overseas wedding was part of the proceeds of crime and the agency is tracking the trail of the proceeds to establish the end – recipients,” an agency source said as quoted by Hindustan Times.

ED already on trail of Mahadev Book operators

The ED has been working on the Mahadev Book illegal betting app case for a long time now. The efforts and investigations have significantly increased in the last one month with the arrests of some high ranking government and police officials.

Among the arrested individuals, ED booked an ASI named Chandrabhushan Verma and a close relative of Saurabh Chandrakar named Satish Chandrakar. All the individuals have been lodged in jail by a local court until September 15.

Moreover, the ED is also in the process of seeking assistance from Interpol and has issued a Red Corner Notice against Saurabh Chandrakar and his partner Ravi Uppal. With this, the law enforcement agencies worldwide can act in this matter.