Mumbai: Actor Sahil Khan was arrested on Sunday in connection with his alleged role in the Rs 15,000 crore Mahadev betting app case. Khan (50) was produced in a city court and has been sent to police custody till May 1. A special investigation team of the crime branch nabbed him from a hotel in Jagdalpur, Chhatissgarh. He was brought to Mumbai.

Khan, who had been working as a fitness expert until recently, had fled the city on Apr 24 and had been dodging the police by constantly changing his location. After his anticipatory bail application was rejected by Bombay high court on Apr 24, the police team had been trying to nab him.

To track down his whereabouts, the police had been tracking his location which showed he was constantly on the move at different points of time — Gadchiroli in Maharasthra, Goa, Karnataka, Telangana, and also Chhattisgarh.

A senior crime branch officer said Khan was a partner in a betting app firm. “He had been promoting the app through social media and had also forged some documents. He was asked to explain about the money trail. He did not cooperate in the probe,” said the officer.

Khan, who was on the top list of suspects involving Mahadev betting app and its promoters Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, had two weeks ago appeared before the city crime branch office to record his statement.

Police are probing the alleged financial transactions between some real estate companies and promoters of Mahadev betting App. Investigators found several betting apps were created under the Mahadev betting app.

An FIR in the betting case had been registered at Matunga police station in November and the accused had been booked for cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy under sections of Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act.

The SIT had in Jan arrested Dixit Kothari (27), a Mira Road resident, in this case.

----------------------------------

The Mumbai police arrested actor and influencer Sahil Khan for his alleged involvement in the Mahadev betting application case. However, Khan stated that he hadn’t even received the payment of Rs. 3 lakh per month for promoting the Mahadev betting application on his Instagram account.

In 2023, the Mumbai Crime Branch sent a summons to actor Sahil Khan and three other actors to appear for questioning in the Mahadev betting application case. However, Khan didn’t show up and continued to post videos on social media. Sahil Khan also posted a picture of himself in a pool with the caption, “Good morning, Jumma Mubarak.”

The Crime Branch, Special Investigation Team (SIT) discovered that the actor had fled to Chhattisgarh. A 40-hour-long operation was conducted and the actor was arrested in Chhattisgarh and taken into custody. So far, the SIT team has arrested 32 people involved in the betting application scam.

Khan filed an application in the high court to obtain anticipatory bail, however, the court rejected his application. He was produced in court and remanded to four days of police custody until May 1.

Speaking to mid-day, Khan’s advocate, Mujahid Ansari, said, “My client is a victim and is not involved in the Mahadev betting application. He received a contract from the agencies only to promote the app on his Instagram page. An agreement was made with the agencies wherein my client would receive a salary of Rs. 3 lakh per month for 24 months. However, my client didn’t receive any amount. He is a victim, and the cops should release him and lift all charges against him.”

“Actors usually get paid for publicizing such products, and this is conducted with a signed agreement. While promoting the app, Khan also agreed with the agency that he would not be responsible for any damages or losses,” advocate Ansari added.

According to the police, Khan has changed his location multiple times in an attempt to evade the cops. He has reportedly been in Goa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gadhchiroli, and Chhattisgarh.

Police discovered that the government has lost approximately Rs 15,000 crore in taxes because they were not paid through the Mahadev betting application.

On January 1, 2019, the Mahadev Betting application was launched on many portals, and millions of people signed up. The accused used many celebrities to promote it on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Google pages. On this application, people across the country placed online bets on sports like cricket, football, tennis, casino games, and teen patti. However, the accused who was running the betting application evaded taxes.