Mahadev betting app case: Father of accused found dead in Chhattisgarh

The father of a man named as an accused in the Mahadev betting app scam has been found dead under suspicious conditions at a village in Chhattisgarh's Durg district, said a senior police official.

The body of 62-year-old Sushil Das, who has been missing since Sunday, 3 December, was found in a well at Achhoti village under Anda police station limits on Tuesday afternoon, 5 December and prima facie it appeared to be a case of suicide, said Durg Senior Superintendent of Police Ram Gopal Garg.

The deceased was the father of Asim Das, an alleged cash courier in the case arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Sushil Das worked as a security guard in a private company, Garg added.

The body was sent for post-mortem examination and further investigation was underway, he stated. Asim Das and another accused, constable Bhim Singh Yadav, were arrested by the ED on 3 November.

Asim Das, after claiming that the funds which were seized had to be given to former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, had retracted his statement two weeks later. Das asserted that he had been framed as part of a conspiracy and vehemently denied ever delivering cash to politicians.

Das's retraction came during a court hearing, where he expressed that he had never delivered cash to politicians and that he was being implicated in the case as part of a conspiracy. In a letter written from jail to the Director of the ED and other higher authorities, Das stated that he was being wrongly accused and detailed the circumstances leading to his arrest.

The Enforcement Directorate had earlier stated that it had recorded a statement from a "cash courier" who said that the owners of the Mahadev betting app had given Rs 508 crore to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel until November.

On 3 November, ED had conducted searches at Hotel Triton and another location in Bhilai and successfully intercepted Das, who was sent from UAE especially, to allegedly deliver large sum of cash for the electioneering expenses of the ruling Congress party.

The agency had apprehended the courier, Asim Das, after recovering Rs 5.39 crore from him ahead of the elections. The ED is investigating the Mahadev online betting app and its sponsors under anti-money laundering legislation.