Officials said they are trying to gather more information through proper channels and accelerate the proceedings for his extradition.Deep DiveāWe have learnt from reliable sources that Ravi Uppal has been arrested in Dubai. It is a major breakthrough.
We will try to get him extradited from the UAE as soon as possible,ā said an Indian government official, who didnāt want to be named.A resident of Bhilai in Chhattisgarh, Uppal also operated from Dubai. An Interpol red notice was issued against him in October 2023, following which he was detained by Dubai authorities in December that year.
However, he was released within 45 days; the ED sent an extradition request to the UAE in January 2024.As exclusively reported by HT on November 4 last year, Uppal had fled the UAE and was believed to be residing in Vanuatu. He recently returned to the UAE.According to an ED officer, who sought anonymity, Uppal as well Chandrakar both hold passports of Vanuatu, which they had obtained after fleeing from India.āUppal is a vital cog in the entire Mahadev organisation.
He handled hawala deliveries running into hundreds of crores of rupees and was also the principal point of contact to liaise with the politicians and bureaucrats in Chhattisgarh. His interrogation will be crucial to establishing the money trail and identifying the beneficiaries of the illegal proceeds,ā the ED officer said.EDās court and internal documents, seen by HT, reveal that while Chandrakar primarily handled the promotion and operations of the Mahadev Online Book , Uppal ran the head office with him in Dubai and managed āthe financial network, including hawala deliveries and betting operators in Nagpurā.Without naming them, a second ED officer said āUppalās siblings in India allegedly managed his hawala operations in Indiaā.Besides Uppal, ED is also trying to get hold of another accused, Vikash Chhaparia ,in Dubai, officials said.ED has claimed that Mahadev appās systematic operation ran locally with the āactive support and connivanceā of local police and politicians from Chhattisgarh and that āthe bureaucrats and politically exposed persons have been receiving illegal gratification for turning a blind eye to this illegal betting racketā.The illegal betting syndicate ran betting panels in which bets were placed online, and the money generated was laundered.
ED has estimated the proceedings linked to the Mahadev app and some linked platforms to be worth around ā¹94,000 crore, out of which ā¹4,000 to ā¹5,000 crore has already been remitted to the promoters.Neeraj Chauhan is a senior journalist with Hindustan Times and an investigative reporter specialising in national security, terrorism, organised crime, narcotics, corruption, financial crime and complex investigations. With over 21 years of experience across Hindustan Times, The Times of India, The Indian Express and The Pioneer, he has built deep expertise in Indiaās internal security and law-enforcement landscape.
Neeraj has extensively covered Indiaās principal investigative, intelligence and security agencies, including the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, R&AW, MHA and other central security forces. His work has included deeply reported investigations into terrorism, terror financing, cross-border crime, narcotics trafficking, cybercrime, financial fraud and political and corporate corruption.
He has reported on some of the most significant terror attacks and security developments in India over the past two decades, including the Delhi serial blasts, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the recent Pahalgam attack. His reporting has also chronicled the rise and decline of the Indian Mujahideen, the activities and subsequent crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), Islamist extremist networks, the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, insurgencies in the Northeast and Maoist violence.
Some of Neerajās major breaking stories are in Aryan Khan drug case, Sushant Singh Rajput suicide, interception of a 3,000-kg Afghan heroin consignment worth about ā¹21,000 crore at Mundra port, Sri Lanka easter bombings, Aarushi-Hemraj murders in Noida, 2G scam, coal block allocation scam, AgustWestland VVIP chopper deal and major bank frauds and extradition cases involving Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya. His reporting is marked by an ability to cultivate sources, analyse confidential and complex documents, and follow investigations over several yearsāfrom the initial breakthrough to chargesheets, trials and international legal proceedings.
He specialises in making complicated security and investigative developments accessible while examining their wider implications for governance and public policy. A Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellow at the University of Westminster, Neeraj also spent time at the Financial Times as part of the fellowship.
He was also a Robert Bosch Media Ambassadors India-Germany Fellow, studying at the University of TĆ¼bingen and working with Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin. He has previously taught investigative journalism and crime reporting as a guest faculty member at the Times School of Journalism.
Over more than two decades, Neeraj has established himself as an authoritative voice on Indiaās national security and investigative landscape, with his reporting closely followed by officials, investigators, lawyers, policymakers and readers seeking insight into some of the countryās most complex and consequential developments.Read MoreGet Latest News, breaking headlines, and top India News, and today real-time updates from across the nation. Stay informed on politics, government policies, crime, Today Weather, and major developments on Hindustan Times