The father of a man named as an accused in connection with the Mahadev betting app scam in Chhattisgarh was been found dead under suspicious conditions at a village in the state’s Durg district, police said on Wednesday.
The deceased has been identified as Sushil Das, 62, who was reportedly missing since the last two days.
Durg Senior Superintendent of Police Ram Gopal Garg said told the reporters that prime facie it looks like a case of suicide.
Das, who worked as a security guard in a private company, was missing since Sunday evening. Police said the body has been sent for post-mortem examination and the exact case his death would be known once the report comes.
Das’ son, Asim Das, a driver and alleged cash courier in the Mahadev app case, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on November 3. The central agency had also claimed to have recovered Rs 5.39 crore from his possession.
During the election in Chhattisgarh, the ED had issued a statement, saying “Many startling allegations have come to light, suggesting that regular payments have been made in the past. So far, around Rs 508 crore has been paid by Mahadev App promoters to Bhupesh Baghel, the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh. These allegations are the subject of an ongoing investigation.”
It said further investigation was needed and added that forensic examination of Asim Das’s phone and examination of an email sent by Shubam Soni, one of the key accused in the Mahadev app case, “indicated such payments”.
The allegation triggered a political storm in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, and Asim was at the centre of it. The Congress and Baghel called it a conspiracy.