From betting panels to share prices: what the ED alleges about listed companies in the Mahadev case

Most coverage of the Mahadev betting app case has followed the people at the edges: the panel operators in Bhilai and Raipur, the celebrities paid to promote it, and the two founders alleged to have run it from Dubai. The Enforcement Directorate's sixth prosecution complaint, filed in September 2026 before a special PMLA court in Raipur, points somewhere less expected. According to India Today's report of 24 September, it alleges that betting proceeds were used to move the share prices of listed companies.

Who is named

The complaint names 42 individuals and companies. Among them is Vikas Garg, chairman of the Ebix Group, whom the ED arrested in July 2026. The agency alleges Garg helped route proceeds through Harishankar Tibrewal, whom it describes as the alleged mastermind, using foreign portfolio investments and bonds. It further alleges that Garg, Tibrewal and associates used the money to manipulate the share prices of several listed companies. Before the arrest, the ED attached more than ₹940 crore of property linked to Garg.

EaseMyTrip promoter Nishant Pitti is also named. The ED alleges he received more than ₹59 crore in proceeds of crime from Tibrewal, and The Pioneer reported that demat shares worth ₹59.60 crore were attached. Pitti told the paper he did not know about the chargesheet.

These are allegations in a complaint. The Raipur court has not ruled on them, and everyone named can contest them.

Why the market route matters

A betting app collects money in small amounts, usually by UPI into accounts held in other people's names. The ED's complaint describes two routes for what happens next, foreign portfolio investments and bonds. Both move money into regulated markets, where it looks like investment rather than betting deposits. If the allegations are proved, other shareholders in those companies were trading at prices the ED says were manipulated.

The scale behind it is large. The ED told the court that alleged proceeds from Mahadev and its sister sites over ten years come to ₹94,400 crore, a figure it called "only a provisional estimate", and that ₹2,104 crore of assets had been seized or attached. Across six complaints there are 116 accused and 14 arrests. Mahadev's alleged founders, Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, remain wanted.

What it means for players and promoters

The ED also told the court the app "is still in operations and running huge number of panels", promoted through closed WhatsApp and Telegram groups. A player who buys an ID from such a panel has nobody to complain to when a withdrawal stops, and an account that receives or sends that money can be frozen during an investigation.

For anyone paid to promote betting apps, the exposure is double. Under Section 9(2) of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, advertising an online money game can bring up to two years in prison, a fine of up to ₹50 lakh, or both, separate from any money-laundering case.

The figures, the timeline since the first police FIRs in October 2022 and the promoter fee the ED says was surrendered are set out in a Mahadev chargesheet report that lists who is named and what is alleged. If you hold money that came from a betting brand, speak to a lawyer before you spend it or move it. This is general information, not legal advice.