The operations were structured through a franchise-based network of “panels” and “branches” operated by associates across India, while the main absconding promoters, Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, operated and controlled the betting syndicate from Dubai, the ED has said.

Authorities are currently trying to extradite Saurabh Chandrakar, who is believed to presently be in Oman.

In 2023, Chandrakar’s lavish Rs 200-crore wedding in Dubai, for which his family members arrived in private jets and the guest list included Bollywood celebrities, had made news in India.

The ED recently arrested Ebix Group chairman Vikas Garg, the 14th person to be arrested in this case. The agency has named 74 entities as accused in the five chargesheets filed so far before a special PMLA court in Raipur.

Garg’s arrest comes weeks after the ED provisionally attached properties worth Rs 940.77 crore belonging to him, his family members, and entities allegedly owned or controlled by him. The attached assets include residential properties, land parcels, equity shares and other securities.

“The attachment forms part of the ongoing money laundering investigation into the Mahadev Online Book / Skyexchange illegal online betting case,” an official said. —With PTI input