Representative image. Pulakit Singh, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Why it matters
The CBI accuses the Mahadev network of taking illegal bets from users across India and paying protection money to public servants. An earlier attempt to get him back from the UAE failed, Outlook reported, so this order puts the man the CBI calls the promoter in its custody for questioning. The case has already produced chargesheets, ED attachments and a political dispute in Chhattisgarh, so what he is asked and how the court handles the defence objection will shape the next stage.
A special CBI court in Raipur on 4 November 2026 gave the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) eight days’ custody of Saurabh Chandrakar, the accused promoter at the centre of the Mahadev app case, three days after he was extradited from Oman. The agency had asked for 10 days, defence lawyer Tushar Giri told the Press Trust of India (PTI), and the court also allowed investigators to take him to Delhi for questioning.
Chandrakar, 31, is an accused, not a convicted person. No court has ruled on the allegations against him. The custody order only lets the CBI hold and question him for a fixed period before he is produced in court again.
What the Raipur court ordered in the Mahadev app case
Chandrakar was produced on Wednesday before Special Judge (CBI) Manoj Kumar Singh Thakur. Hindustan Times and PTI reported that the CBI sought 10 days of custody to question him about the alleged betting network and its finances, and the judge granted eight. The Economic Times reported the custody runs until 12 November.
The court accepted some requests from the defence, Giri told PTI. Chandrakar’s lawyers and family members may meet him, and his questioning is to take place under CCTV (closed-circuit camera) recording. The Indian Express reported he would be taken to the CBI’s headquarters in New Delhi.
Before reaching Raipur, Chandrakar had spent two days on a transit remand, which is short custody granted so an agency can move an accused person to the court where the case is pending. The Economic Times said a Delhi court granted it on Monday, 2 November. Saurabh Chandrakar was flown to Raipur on a private flight on the evening of Tuesday, 3 November, Hindustan Times and PTI reported.
How the CBI brought Saurabh Chandrakar back from Oman
The CBI announced the extradition in a press release dated 1 November 2026, in which it spells his name Sourabh Chandrakar. It said the Royal Oman Police located and detained him on the basis of a Red Corner Notice, an Interpol alert asking police worldwide to find and hold a wanted person. The CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) then sent formal extradition proposals to Oman with the evidence they had gathered, and a CBI team travelled to Muscat to escort him back once Oman agreed.
According to the release, he is wanted in two CBI cases in which chargesheets have already been filed, and in an ED money laundering case in which a prosecution complaint, the ED’s version of a chargesheet, has been filed. The CBI thanked the Government of Oman and the Royal Oman Police for their help.
Reports in July 2026, including one by Outlook, had said Saurabh Chandrakar was being held in Oman. The CBI release does not give the date of his detention there.
What the CBI and ED allege about Mahadev Online Book
The CBI says Mahadev Online Book was one of the largest illegal online betting operations in India, run from outside the country. In its release, it alleged the platform took bets on cricket, football, card games and other events through franchised “panels” and “branches” across India that signed up users and collected their stakes.
The agency alleged the money was moved through many mule bank accounts (accounts opened in other people’s names to hide who controls the money), passed through several layers of transfers and sent abroad through hawala, an informal money transfer system. It also alleged part of the proceeds went as protection money to public servants so the operation could run without trouble. Its chargesheets invoke the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, Indian Penal Code sections on criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery, and the Chhattisgarh Gambling (Prohibition) Act.
The ED puts the alleged proceeds at about ₹6,000 crore, PTI reported. The Indian Express reported that the ED has filed five prosecution complaints against 116 accused, including some companies, in a special money laundering court in Raipur, and has attached assets worth nearly ₹9,000 crore that it treats as proceeds of crime. Chandrakar and co-accused Ravi Uppal, both from Durg district in Chhattisgarh, are alleged to have run the operation from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, PTI reported.
Mahadev app case timeline: from state FIRs to CBI custody
The case has moved between the state police, the ED and the CBI over four years. This timeline is put together by NewsPlainly from the CBI release and the reports cited in this article.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2022 | Chhattisgarh registered 72 FIRs over online betting, former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said (PTI) |
| 2023 | The Baghel government asked the Union Home Ministry for lookout circulars against Chandrakar and Uppal, Baghel said (PTI) |
| March 2024 | State Economic Offences Wing (EOW) files an FIR based on an ED report; Baghel, Uppal, Chandrakar and others named as accused (PTI) |
| August 2024 | State hands 70 betting cases and one EOW case to the CBI (PTI) |
| October 2024 | United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities briefly hold Chandrakar; he is later released (Outlook, Hindustan Times) |
| 18 December 2024 | CBI registers its FIR, taking over from the EOW (Hindustan Times, PTI) |
| July 2026 | Reports say he is held in Oman (Outlook) |
| 1 November 2026 | Extradited from Oman, CBI says |
| 2 November 2026 | Two-day transit remand from a Delhi court |
| 4 November 2026 | Raipur special court gives CBI 8 days’ custody, to 12 November |
The defence objection and the political row
Giri told PTI the defence had raised a legal point: under international law and extradition treaties, he said, a person can be tried only for the offences for which he was extradited, and Chandrakar was extradited in the ED case, not the CBI case. He added that the defence did not want to raise needless objections or appear not to cooperate. The CBI’s own release says both the CBI and the ED sent extradition proposals to Oman. The reports read did not say how the judge dealt with the objection.
The ED’s counsel, Saurabh Kumar Pandey, told The Indian Express that Oman accepted an extradition request made by the ED’s Raipur office.
The case also carries a political dispute in Chhattisgarh. Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai of the BJP said his questioning would show who received protection money, The Indian Express and PTI reported. Baghel, the Congress leader named in the March 2024 EOW FIR, has called that FIR politically motivated. After the extradition he said his government had registered 72 FIRs in 2022 and sought lookout circulars in 2023, PTI reported, and he asked the ED and CBI to clarify who actually owns the app, according to The Indian Express. The reports of Wednesday’s hearing read for this article do not mention any politician.
What CBI custody for eight days means next
Custody with an investigating agency, often called police custody, keeps an accused person with the investigators so they can question him. Judicial custody, by contrast, means being held in jail under the court’s control. When the eight days of CBI custody end, Saurabh Chandrakar has to be produced before the special court again, and the court will decide what happens to him next.
Hindustan Times reported that the CBI is examining the alleged betting network, its financial transactions and the role of the accused in running it through panel operators and associates. Its release names Chandrakar among the key accused in chargesheets already filed. Readers following this story can find more India court and crime reports in our India section.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Saurabh Chandrakar?
He is the accused promoter of the Mahadev Online Book betting app, according to the CBI, which spells his name Sourabh. Reports say he is 31 and from Chhattisgarh's Durg district. He has not been convicted.
How long is Saurabh Chandrakar in CBI custody?
Eight days from 4 November 2026, until 12 November according to The Economic Times. The CBI had asked for 10 days.
When was Saurabh Chandrakar extradited from Oman?
The CBI announced on 1 November 2026 that it had secured his extradition and that a CBI team escorted him from Muscat. A Delhi court then gave a two-day transit remand on 2 November.
What is the Mahadev app case about?
The CBI alleges the app ran illegal betting on sport and card games through panels across India, moved money through mule accounts and hawala, and paid protection money to public servants. The ED puts the proceeds at about ₹6,000 crore.