Mumbai: A sessions court in Kalaghoda has granted anticipatory bail to suspended Assistant Police Inspector (API) of Chhattisgarh police, Chandra Bhushan Verma, in connection with the Mahadev betting case registered by Mumbai police. The offence was filed on the directions of the magistrate court following a complaint by a social worker.

Verma is currently lodged in prison in Chattisgarh in connection with the same case. Hence, his lawyers Faiz Merchant and Faisal Shaikh had earlier this month moved anticipatory bail plea, claiming that Verma cannot be prosecuted twice for the same offence.

The defence had claimed that the case ought not to have been registered in Mumbai as it's already being probed by the Chhattisgarh police as well as the Enforcement Directorate.

“The complainant (social worker) lodged the case in order to extort money from the applicant (Verma),” argued the defence, asserting that the social worker has resorted to abuse of the police machinery by threatening Verma of illegal arrest in the frivolous case. Further, the defence sought parity with other co-accused – Sahil Khan and Dixit Kothari – who have been granted bail.

The court considered the grounds raised by the defense and granted anticipatory bail. The detailed order however, is not yet available.

The Mumbai police have claimed that they are probing around 67 such betting applications operating through more that 2,000 fictitious SIM cards and more than 17,000 bogus accounts. The syndicate has evaded taxes to the tune of Rs15,000 crore, said the police.

The prosecution also argued that the apps are linked to Dawood Ibrahim's son Mustakim. Key conspirators met Mustakim at his Dubai residence on many occasions and the funds were transferred using cryptocurrency, said the police.