Bhopal During searches at 60 sites in Chhattisgarh, Bhopal, and Kolkata, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) retrieved digital and documentary evidence related to the online gambling platform Mahadev Book.

“Incriminating digital and documentary evidence have been found and seized during the course of searches,” the agency said on Wednesday.

According to the Ace Investigation Agency, it is searching 60 locations in “Chhattisgarh, Bhopal, Kolkata, and Delhi, including premises linked to politicians, senior bureaucrats, police officers, key functionaries of Mahadev Book, and other private individuals suspected of involvement in the case” as part of its investigation into the Mahadev Book online betting scam.

The source said, “The case concerns the illicit activities of Mahadev Book, an online betting platform that is promoted by Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, both of whom are currently based in Dubai.”

According to the report, investigations have shown that the promoters reportedly gave large sums of “protection money” to government employees in order to maintain the seamless operation of their illicit betting network.

The case was first filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) Raipur, but the Government of Chhattisgarh later moved it to the CBI for a thorough investigation into the involvement of high-ranking government officials and other defendants, the agency stated, adding that “searches are continuing.”

In a broad operation on Wednesday, a CBI team raided the homes of former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and others.

The CBI teams allegedly carried out searches in Raipur, Bhilai, and Durg, targeting seven police officials, including four IPS officers, Baghel’s two special-duty officers, Saumya Chaurasia, MLA Devendra Yadav, and KPS School Director Nishant Tripathi.

Ahead of the AICC conference in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on April 8–9, Baghel was scheduled to be in Delhi that day for a ‘Drafting Committee’ meeting, the former chief minister’s office confirmed on X earlier in the day. “Yet, before he could leave, CBI teams descended on his residences in Raipur and Bhilai,” according to the statement.