FIR against me in Mahadev app case politically motivated as BJP fears poll loss: Baghel
Baghel on Sunday said the FIR against him in the Mahadev online betting case by the state's EOW was politically motivated and was done to defame him since the BJP anticipates massive loss in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Baghel, a Congress MLA, has been fielded by the party from Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat. The state's Economic Offence Wing (EOW) registered a case against Baghel and 18 others in the alleged Mahadev online betting scam based on a probe report submitted by the Enforcement Directorate.
«The FIR was registered by the EOW on March 4 then why it was not uploaded in its website and made public? The FIR was made public on Sunday after a newspaper carried a report on this,» Baghel said in the press conference.
«In the FIR copy, my name was mentioned as accused at the 6th place. The content of the FIR in which names of the promoters of the app has been mentioned, does not have my name. The FIR is politically motivated, I was deliberately implicated under pressure. It was done due to political vendetta,» he alleged.
Baghel said his government had registered 72 FIRs in connection with Mahadev app since 2022 and around 450 people were arrested, adding that anti gambling laws in the state were made more stringent in his tenure (between 2018 and 2023). The previous Congress government in the state had issued a look out circular against Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, promoters of the Mahadev betting app and it was the responsibility of Central government to ensure their arrest, he said.
«They were not
