Mahadev Betting App Case: Raid at Pune's Narayangaon; 5 in Police Custody, 99 Charged Including 3 Minors

Narayangaon (Pune): The Pune Rural Police's raid on the financial center of betting apps Mahadev Book and Lotus 365  in Narayangaon continued for the second consecutive day. The police have registered a case against 99 people, three of whom are minors and three are absconding. The local crime branch of Pune Rural produced the five accused in a Junnar court and remanded them in police custody till May 20, while the remaining 88 were remanded in judicial custody through video conferencing. All of them have been sent to Yerawada jail.

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The accused have been identified as Kunal Sunil Bhat (28), Sameer Yunus Pathan (25), Rashid Kamal Sharif Phulla (28), Ajmad Khan Sardar Khan (33), and Yash Rajendra Singh Chauhan (27).

Police seized 44 computer desktops and laptops, 188 cellphones, and other materials during the raid. For the last two months, the center has been accepting cricket league betting, various team sports, and online games. The two betting chiefs, Hrithik Kothari (24) and Raj Bokaria (25), and another are absconding. Most of the operators arrested are from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Rajasthan, while some are from Narayangaon and Junnar, who were recruited through online advertisements and interviews in the last two months.

As many as 96 people were handling more than 400 bank accounts through call centers, all accounts were using the bank facility to accept money and pay money to others. The police have seized 400 bank account kits. The investigation is being conducted by the Local Crime Investigation Department and Narayangaon Police under the guidance of Pune Rural Superintendent of Police Pankaj Deshmukh and Additional Superintendent of Police Ramesh Chopade. Adv. Rajendra Kolhe and Adv Ketan Kavale saw the work. The search for the absconding accused is going on at a fast pace.