Gujarats betting kingpin nabbed: Harshit Jain deported from Dubai in Rs 2300-crore scam

AHMEDABAD: In a high-stakes joint operation, Gujarat Police and the CBI tracked down and brought back Harshit Jain, the fugitive mastermind behind Gujarats biggest-ever cricket betting scam worth over Rs 2300 crore. Jain, who fled to Dubai after a police raid in March 2023, was deported to Ahmedabad after a Red Corner Notice issued through Interpol. His arrest is the latest breakthrough in a multi-layered digital betting racket linked to Saurabh Chandrakar, aka Mahadev Bookie. Harshit Babulal Jain was arrested in Dubai and flown back to India on September 5, following an inter-agency crackdown. According to a CBI press release, The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in collaboration with Gujarat Police, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), successfully coordinated the return of wanted fugitive Harshit Babulal Jain from the UAE. Jain was wanted for tax evasion, illegal gambling, and money laundering. A Red Notice was issued through Interpol on August 9, 2023, at the request of Gujarat Police. He was deported and handed over to Gujarat Police at Ahmedabad International Airport on September 5. DIG of State Monitoring Cell Nirlipta Rai said, Harshit Jain, the key accused in the betting racket, had fled India. Acting on specific intelligence, we launched a search and issued a lookout notice in coordination with central agencies. When Jain was located, a formal proposal was sent to Dubai authorities on December 9, 2023, through the Gujarat Home Ministry, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of External Affairs to bring him back to India. Based on this proposal, he was deported on September 5, 2025, and taken into SMC custody directly from the airport. Rai added, During our investigation, we traced transactions worth Rs 2,300 crore across multiple bank accounts. Of these, Rs 9.62 crore spread across 481 accounts have been frozen. Out of 1,507 bank accounts linked to betting activities, 139 accounts have been blocked. So far, 37 people have been arrested, lookout circulars issued for 8 accused, and 3 Red Corner Notices, 2 Provisional Requests, and 2 Extradition Proposals have been sent. The breakthrough came after Dubai Police tracked Jain using the Interpol alert, paving the way for his deportation. The Gujarat Polices State Monitoring Cell (SMC), which spearheaded the operation, had been pursuing Jain since he vanished following a Police Control Branch (PCB) raid in March 2023. On March 28, 2023, acting on a tip-off, PCB officers stormed a commercial hub at Sumil Complex, Madhupura, Ahmedabad, uncovering shocking evidence of a massive betting operation. They seized seven mobile phones, three laptops, 536 cheque books, 538 debit cards, 14 POS machines, 193 SIM cards, seven PAN cards, 83 company seals, 20 digital signature devices, and cash amounting to Rs 3.38 lakh. Investigators discovered a Velocity Server running MetaTrader, a clandestine digital betting platform disguised as a stock trading app. Through this platform, multiple agents created betting IDs, roped in thousands of punters, and laundered crores through common peoples accounts. The first big fish to fall was Deepak Thakkar, arrested by SMC from Dubai in September 2024. A Class 8 dropout from Bhabhar, Banaskantha, Thakkar started as a small-time stock dealer before morphing into a high-tech betting mastermind. Operating from two plush offices on the 11th floor of PNTC Complex, Vejalpur, under the banner V.V.I.P. Software, he used the MetaTrader app to run illegal stock market trades and betting networks. SMC raids on his office unearthed digital trails showing how many agents were connected, how much was bet, and how funds were routed. Harshit Jain, investigators learned, had acquired one master ID from Thakkar to run his own operation under the banner of Mahavir Enterprise. The Rs 2300 crore traced so far represents only the transactions linked to Jains single master ID, with 500 more such IDs in play, the rackets true scale could be staggeringly higher. As investigators dug deeper, the scams trail reached Saurabh Chandrakar, alias Mahadev Bookie, who operates Indias biggest betting network from Dubai. Jains flight to Dubai after the 2023 raid only strengthened suspicions of direct links between the Madhupura scam and the sprawling Mahadev syndicate. So far, 37 accused, including Harshit Jain and Deepak Thakkar, have been nabbed. Ironically, Taral Bhatt, the PCB officer who first cracked open the scam, was later booked in a sabotage case, casting a shadow over the probes early days.