Following a government ban, betting websites connected to the Mahadev fraud have reopened under other names. Numerous of these betting sites, according to reports, have re-entered the public sphere with slightly different identities and web addresses. In the weeks after the prohibition, a few of these “betting exchanges” also posted the revised names and URLs on social media.
“We’ve moved our domain. Fairplay24.in replaced Fairplay.in. ID Password is same,” stated an Instagram post. Over 131,000 people follow the Fairplay India social media profile, which bills itself as the “biggest betting exchange in the world.”
A report in the Economic Times claims that other betting websites have used a similar strategy to get around the government prohibition. Lotus365 became lotus365.co, while Parimatch became pari-match-bet.in.
In 2023, the Enforcement Directorate started a thorough investigation into the Mahadev Betting fraud. It stated that “startling allegations” that the promoters of the Mahadev betting app handed around ₹508 crore to former Chhattisgarh chief minister and senior Congress politician Bhupesh Baghel so far were the result of forensic research and the confession of Asim Das, an accused cash courier who was earlier detained.
Two additional persons were taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate earlier in January as part of its money laundering probe into the Mahadev online gambling and betting app case. The agency called a number of Bollywood actors and celebrities to quiz them about their relationships to the online betting site and the payment method. In this instance, the ED has so far issued two charge sheets, one of which is directed at the two primary promoters of the purportedly illicit betting and gambling app.
