Shikhar Dhawan, former Indian cricketer, has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate for questioning.
Former India cricketer Shikhar Dhawan was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday for questioning in connection with a money laundering probe linked to an illegal betting app.
The central probe agency will record Shikhar Dhawan's statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as part of this investigation linked to an "illegal" betting app named 1xBet.
The 39-year-old former India cricketer is understood to have been linked to the app through certain endorsements. The ED wants to understand his links with this app during the questioning.
The probe agency is investigating multiple such cases involving illegal betting apps that are alleged to have duped numerous people and investors worth crores of rupees or have evaded a huge amount of taxes.
Last month, former cricketer Suresh Raina was questioned in this case by the federal probe agency.
The Union government has banned real-money online gaming by bringing a legislation recently.
Suresh Raina questioned
The ED had questioned Suresh Raina, 38, for more than eight hours. The federal probe agency recorded Raina's statement under the PMLA as part of its investigation linked to a sports betting application named 1xBet, the sources said.
Raina, who played 18 Tests, 226 ODIs, and 78 T20Is for India, is understood to have been linked to the app through certain endorsements.
The agency recently called representatives of Google and Meta for questioning as part of its probe. It also conducted multi-state searches on Tuesday in connection with a similar investigation against an online betting app named Parimatch.
The agency is probing multiple such cases involving illegal betting apps, which allegedly duped numerous people and investors worth crores of rupees or evaded a huge amount of taxes.
According to estimates by market analysis firms and probe agencies, there were about 22 crore Indian users of various such online betting apps, out of which half (about 11 crore) were regular users.
The online betting app market in India is worth over USD 100 billion, which is growing at a rate of 30 per cent, according to experts.
