In a remand application in court, the agency has said it needs to independently corroborate the claim.
In a startling allegation, the Enforcement Directorate has claimed that a courier caught with over Rs 5 crore in cash has told the agency that the promoters of the Mahadev betting app have made payments of Rs 508 crore to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. In its remand application for the courier in court, the agency has said, "This fact needs to be independently corroborated by this Directorate.”
The courier has also told the agency that the money that was with him was meant to be delivered to one politician 'Baghel' for election expenses in Chhattisgarh.
The allegations come four days before the first phase of elections in the state.
The agency received an intelligence input that a large amount of cash was being moved in Chhattisgarh by the promoters of the Mahadev App ahead of the elections in the state.
"On Thursday, the agency conducted searches at Hotel Triton and another location in Bhilai and successfully intercepted a cash courier. Asim Das, who was sent from UAE especially to deliver (a) large amount of cash for electioneering expenses of the ruling Congress Party," the Enforcement Directorate said.
The ED said Rs 5.39 crore was recovered from Das' car and residence and that he had admitted that the money was arranged by the promoters of the Mahadev App, who are based in the UAE, to be "delivered to one Politician 'Baghel' for upcoming election expenses in state of Chhattisgarh".
Some benami bank accounts linked to the betting app were also discovered and an amount of Rs 15.59 crore in them has been frozen.
Das was arrested and, from his questioning, the forensic examination of the phone recovered from him, and the examination of an email sent by Shubam Soni (a high-ranking accused in the Mahadev network) it has been revealed that "regular payments have been made in the past and so far around Rs 508 Crore have been paid by Mahadev App Promoters to Bhupesh Baghel, Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh".
"These are a subject matter of investigation," the agency said.
Cop Arrested Too
The ED has also questioned and arrested Police Constable Bheem Yadav. The agency said investigation revealed that, in the past 3 years, Yadav had "unauthorisedly" travelled to Dubai and met Mahadev App promoters Ravi Uppal and Sourabh Chandrakar.
The agency said he had participated in functions linked to the Mahadev app and his travel expenses were borne by M/s Rapid Travels owned by Ahuja Brothers, which is allegedly a money laundering and ticketing company of the Mahadev App.
"He was the conduit to receive bribe money from Mahadev App promoters for the benefit of senior officers and politicians of Chhattisgarh," it said.
Das and Yadav were produced before a court, which granted ED their custody for seven days.
Previous Seizures, Chhattisgarh Link
In its investigation into the Mahadev App case, the ED has arrested four people and seized "proceeds of crime" worth more than Rs 450 Crore.
In September, the ED had recovered gold bars, jewellery, and cash worth Rs 417 crore when they had conducted searches at 39 locations linked to the betting app. The promoters of the app, Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, belong to Chhattisgarh's Bhilai and are now based in the UAE.
The agency had earlier said that the app would see transactions of thousands of crores and turn a profit of Rs 200 crore a day.
It has also summoned or questioned celebrities like Ranbir Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor and Kapil Sharma for performing at Sourabh Chandrakar's Rs 200-crore wedding in the UAE in February, payments for which were allegedly made through hawala transactions.
The first phase of polling in Chhattisgarh will be held on November 7 and the second phase is scheduled for November 17.