Actor and fitness influencer Sahil Khan was arrested by Mumbai police in connection with the Mahadev betting app case after a 40-hour-long chase across five states.
The Mumbai police arrested actor and influencer Sahil Khan on Sunday in connection with the Mahadev betting app case. He was arrested from a hotel in Chhattisgarh’s Jagdalpur and was brought to Mumbai. He has been remanded to police custody until May 1.
The 47-year-old was caught by the police after over a forty-hour-long chase as Khan kept changing his locations to evade arrest. He also switched off his mobile phone at times, making it difficult for the officials to trace him.
The Mumbai Police are probing an approximately Rs 15,000 crore scam linked to the illegal Mahadev betting app, a platform which is being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate for money laundering and hawala transactions.
Sahil Khan, also a fitness entrepreneur, and his driver fled Mumbai on April 25 when a court rejected his anticipatory bail plea in the case. His first stop was in Goa, where he spent a few hours before heading to Karnataka. Meanwhile, investigators learn that he had fled from Mumbai and wasn’t answering calls.
In Karnataka, as per officials, he spent another few hours, rested for a while, and then headed to Hyderabad. He booked a room there, and when not required, he switched off his mobile phone. However, investigators from Mumbai Crime managed to get details of the driver and his location through his cell phone too.
Suspecting that police officials were closing in, Khan then asked the driver to proceed towards the Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra border, passing through the Gadchiroli district and heading to Naxal-hit regions.
When the driver refused to drive at night in the heavily dense forested area where Naxal presence is suspected, Khan forced him to keep moving.
Eventually, they halted at Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh and booked a room at a private hotel, from where the police officials picked him up, ending almost an 1800-kilometre chase.
Khan wore masks and towers throughout the journey to cover his face to avoid getting identified, police officials added.
WHAT WAS SAHIL KHAN’S ROLE?
Sahil Khan, known for films like ‘Style’ and ‘Excuse Me’, is accused of promoting applications like The Lion Book app, an app linked to the Mahadev betting network, on social media. He even attended events in the UAE related to the app launch and celebration parties.
Seeing the huge profits in the betting network run illegally from UAE, Khan also became a partner in one of the betting apps named Lotus 24/7, which provided a similar illegal online platform for betting, resulting in illegal profits.