New Delhi [India], April 5 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Govil on Friday said that strict action should be taken against those involved in a case related to the Mahadev Betting App.

'Mahadev App has been in controversy and people from Bollywood to politicians - leaders from Chhattisgarh have been questioned in this case. The government should take strict action against those who are involved in illegal activities... Youth are the future of the country and if they are getting involved in this, committing suicide, then the future of the country will not be bright. The government should take strict action,' Govil said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has named former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and Congress leader Bhupesh Bhagel as one of the accused in the Mahadev Betting app case.

On April 1, the CBI made public its first information report (FIR) in connection with the Mahadev online betting app case.

According to the FIR a total of 21 people have been named as accused including; Ravi Uppal, Shubham Soni (Pintu), Chandra Vhushan Verma, Assem Das, Satish Chandrakar, Nitish Deewan, Saurabh Chandrakar, Anil Agarwal (Atul Agarwal) Vikas Chhapriya, Rohit Gaulati, Vishal Ahuja, Dheeraj Ahuja, Anil Kumar Dammani, Sunil Kumar Dammani, Bhim Singh Yadav, Harishankar Tibarwal, Surendra Bagi, Suraj Chokhani and two other unknown persons, including a police officer.

The CBI has charged the accused with Sections 120 (B), 420, 467, 468 under the Indian Penal Code (IPC); Sections 11, 7, 8, 4 of the Chhattisgarh Gambling (Prohibition) Act, 2002, and Section 4 (A) of the Public Gambling Act.

On March 26, the investigative agency also conducted a 14-hour search at the residence of former CM Bhupesh Bhagel, confiscating three phones.

'15 days ago, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had conducted a thorough raid and questioned what more the CBI could uncover now.' He also revealed that the CBI had taken original documents from his residence, and despite his request, they did not provide photocopies,' Baghel said.

He asserted that if action had been taken in time, submitting the required documents would have been beneficial.

The FIR, originally received on March 4, 2024 alleges that Mahadev Online Book is operating betting services illegally. The complaint also alleged that other websites are also being operated in association with the promoters of the Mahadev betting app, naming 'skyexchange,' which is allegedly being operated by Hari Shankar Tibrewal in association with Mahadev Online Book.

The complaint alleges that Mahadev platform provides illegal betting services in different 'live games' including poker, card games, chance games, betting on sports. The app rose to significance five years ago, in 2019-2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown. (ANI)