Subham Soni, who claims to be the owner of the Mahadev app, said he went to Dubai on the advice of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and gave Rs 508 crore as “protection money’ to politicians to ensure his men do not get arrested.
In his second statement issued late on Sunday, Baghel said, “I wonder on what basis are all the responsible TV channels running the statement of an unknown person? Just because my name is in it? Is this not a case of defamation? It is no mystery why and how this video has come and it is also not difficult to understand that such a statement has been issued at the time of elections only to benefit the BJP”.
Baghel, in his earlier statement earlier on Sunday, had accused the BJP of wanting to “fight elections by using central agencies like ED, IT, and that “an ugly attempt is made to spoil my image” just before Chhattisgarh Assembly elections.
Last week, the ED had alleged that Baghel had received kickbacks to the tune of Rs 508 crore from the promoters of the Mahadev app.
Saurabh Kumar Pande, Special Public Prosecutor, Enforcement Directorate, Raipur, the man has already been summoned in connection with the app, which was used to dupe thousands.
“Right now further investigation is going on in which a summon under Section 50 PMLA was issued to Shubham Soni to tender his statement before ED Raipur. He is stationed in Dubai. Rather than appearing before ED to tender his statement, he has sent an email containing certain information, some of which have been detailed in the video,” Pande said.
In the video Soni claims he was “encouraged” by Baghel to go to Dubai and run his business, and that he has been giving “protection money” to Chhattisgarh politicians and police to protect his men.
In the video, Soni claimed: “I own the Mahadev app and Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal (alleged kingpins of the scam) are my advisors.”
No comments:
Post a Comment