1 CGHC010276772026 2026:CGHC:39763 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MCRC No. 6704 of 2026 Harsh Nagdev S/o Lokchand Nagdev Aged About 22 Years R/o Kutchery Chowk, Moudhapara Sindhi Gali, Raipur P.S. Moudhapara District- Raipur (C.G.) ... Applicant versus State Of Chhattisgarh Through- Station House Officer, Police Station Ganj, Distt- Raipur (C.G.) ... Respondent (Cause title taken from Case Information System) For Applicant : Mr. Avi Singh, Advocate (through virtual mode) along with Mr. Hrishikesh Sharma, Advocate For Respondent/State : Mr. Ghanshyam Kashyap, Deputy G.A. Hon'ble Shri Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal Order on Board 10/09/2026 1. This is the first bail application of the applicant, Harsh Nagdev under Section 483 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (hereinafter referred as “BNSS”), who has been arrested on 15.04.2026 in connection with Crime No. 110/2026, registered at Police Station Ganj, Raipur for the offence under Section 7 of the VED PRAKASH DEWANGAN Digitally signed by VED PRAKASH DEWANGAN Date: 2026.09.11 14:10:43 +0530 2 Chhattisgarh Gambling (Prohibition) Act, 2022 and Sections 112(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. 2. The case of the prosecution is that on 13.04.2026, the police of Police Station Ganj, while patrolling, received secret information that a person is engaged in online gambling in a cricket match through mobile phones, and such person was present in his Honda City Car bearing No. CG04/NS/5007 at Nagorao Gali underbridge. The police conducted a raid and arrested co-accused Mandeep Singh, who was found in the said Honda City Car. On interrogation and search of Mandeep Singh, one mobile phone and cash amounting to Rs. 95,000/- were seized from him. In his memorandum statement, he disclosed that he was engaged in online cricket gambling through the betting app “3 Stumps” and that co-accused Babu Khemani was the owner of the said online book. Kamlesh Dewangan, who is the agent of Babu Khemani, collected the cash amount from the online gambling activities. He also disclosed that Karan Khemani, Brahmanand Khemani, Shrikant Sinha and Vijay Pinjwani, mobile Nos. 9893324707, 7044930036 and 7400930036, co-accused Amit Andani, mobile No. 9111555393, Harsh Nagdev, mobile No. 9526125220, Vinod Nara, mobile No. 9399898366, Akash, mobile No. 9826197555, and Rishikesh, mobile No. 9526125220, were engaged in online gambling from Pune, Mumbai and Goa and were running betting panels for IPL cricket matches. From the mobile phones of co-accused Mandeep Singh, ID transactions from mobile Nos. 917777991972 and 917777991752, and from the mobile phone of Babu Khemani bearing No. 447782207749, ID transactions were 3 reflected. Transactions between Kamlesh Dewangan through his mobile number to Karan Khemani, Brahmanand Khemani and Shrikant Sinha through their mobile numbers were also reflected. The involvement of the accused persons in online gambling in IPL cricket matches was extracted. Thereafter, the offence was registered and investigation was started. 3. During the investigation, the memorandum statement of Gulshan @ Babu Khemani was recorded, in which he disclosed the involvement of the Vishal Kashyap and Rohit Singh, stating that they managed cash transactions in bank accounts. The accused Gulshan @ Babu Khemani also disclosed the manner in which they managed the affairs of online gambling, purchase of various properties at different places, and the involvement of other accused persons in their syndicate. The present applicant has been arrested on 15.04.2026 from Mumbai and from him 21 mobile phones, one laptop, 3 computer mouses, 3 LED monitors and one notebook have been seized, which relates to the online gambling activities. After investigation the charge sheet has been filed on 10.06.2026. 4. Learned counsel appearing for the applicant would submit that, except the memorandum statement of co-accused persons, there is no other evidence, which connects the applicant from the alleged offence. By referring page No. 27 of the bail application, he would submit that the applicant has been arrested on 14.04.2026 from Mumbai and he was served with a notice under Section 35(3) of BNSS to appear at Police Station Ganj, Raipur on 15.04.2026. On 14.04.2026, at 3:40 hours, the seizure have been made from the 4 applicant and therefore, directing him to appear at on very next day i.e. on 15.04.2026 at Raipur is quite impossible for the applicant, which clearly demonstrate that all the documents have been created by the prosecution agency. Before any seizure, no memorandum statement of the applicant has been recorded. The electronic evidence of mobile call details or money transactions through mobile phone are not sufficient to hold that the applicant is involved in online gambling activities in the syndicate of other co-accused persons. He would further submit that the co-accused Mandeep Singh has been granted bail by the Hon'ble Supreme Court vide order dated 25.08.2026 passed in SLP (Crl) No. 15660 of 2026. The other co- accused persons Gulshan @ Babu Khemani has also been released on bail by the Hon'ble Supreme Court vide order dated 01.09.2026, passed in SLP (Crl) No. 15905 of 2026. The case of the present applicant is better than the case of Mandeep Singh and Gulshan @ Babu Khemani, as Mandeep Singh was arrested on the spot, but the present applicant has been arrested on the memorandum statement of co-accused. There is no criminal antecedent of the applicant. The alleged offence is triable by Judicial Magistrate First Class, the investigation has been completed and charge sheet has been filed and no any further custodial interrogation is required. The applicant is in jail since 15.04.2026, final adjudication of the case will take its own time. Therefore, he may also be released on bail. 5. On the other hand, learned counsel appearing for the State opposes the submissions made by learned counsel for the applicant, and has submitted that, the allegations against the present applicant is that he 5 is also a part of the syndicate, which runs online gambling in cricket matches through the website “3 Stumps”, which is being operated by Gulshan @ Babu Khemani. The present applicant is also allegedly operating a panel of online gambling in cricket matches and running his activities from Mumbai, Maharashtra. The memorandum statement of the applicant has also been recorded on 15.04.2026, in which he also disclosed the manner of the online gambling activities, in which he along with other accused persons were involved. He also disclosed the operation of other betting App in the style of “www.wood777.com”, “www.wazirbook.com”, “3 stumps”, “bajrang group”, “reddy group” “rishu group” and other names. From the present applicant, 21 mobile phones, one laptop, 3 mouses, 3 LED monitors and one notebook has been seized, from which sufficient material of online gambling have been extracted, which directly involved the present applicant in the syndicate of online gambling. Looking to the allegations that the accused persons have formed a syndicate and are engaged in online gambling, and that their online gambling activities are spread throughout various States of the country, like Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Goa, the huge network of their online gambling operations, the number of accused persons, who are part of their syndicate, the number of electronic gadgets which they are using for running online gambling, and the fact that the bail applications of other co-accused persons Fatte Singh Yadav (MCRC No. 5470 of 2026), Tulsi Das Namdev @ Price (MCRC No. 5582 of 2026), Shatrughan Kumar Komre (MCRC No. 5623 of 2026), Sandeep Israni (MCRC No. 5666 of 2026), Masnun Raja (MCRC No. 5710 of 2026), Shubham Sitlani (MCRC No. 5733 of 2026) and 6 Sunny Dewangan (MCRC No. 5870 of 2026) have been rejected by this Court on 06.07.2026, the present applicant is not entitled to be released on bail. 6. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the case diary. 7. Prima facie, the material available in the case diary indicates the involvement of the applicant in an organized syndicate engaged in online gambling through various betting platforms, including “3 Stumps”. The memorandum statements of the co-accused persons, coupled with the electronic data extracted from the mobile phones and other devices seized from the applicant, prima facie connect him with the alleged online gambling activities. From the possession of the applicant, 21 mobile phones, one laptop, 3 computer mouses, 3 LED monitors and one notebook have been seized, from which, material relating to the alleged gambling activities has been extracted. The allegations further indicate that the said online gambling network was being operated across various States, including Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Goa, involving several accused persons and multiple electronic devices. The nature and manner of the alleged activities prima facie indicate an organized network having wider ramifications. The grant of bail to co-accused Mandeep Singh and Gulshan @ Babu Khemani by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, having regard to the specific role attributed to them and the material available against them, does not, in the facts of the present case, entitle the applicant to bail as a matter of parity and the 7 question of bail is required to be considered on the basis of the specific role and material available against each accused. 8. Considering the submissions made by learned counsel for the parties, the nature and gravity of the allegations, the material collected during investigation and the role attributed to the present applicant, this Court is not inclined to enlarge the applicant on bail. Accordingly, the bail application filed by the applicant, namely Harsh Nagdev, is hereby rejected. Sd/- (Ravindra Kumar Agrawal) Judge ved