New Delhi, Apr 16 (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday searched the premises of online travel booking portal EaseMyTrip's co-founder Nishant Pitti as part of fresh multi-state raids in the Mahadev online betting app linked money laundering case, officials said.

The raids covered 55 locations including in Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Indore, Jaipur, Chennai and Sambalpur in Odisha, the sources said.

The latest searches are a result of some fresh evidence gathered in the case, they said.

The premises and office of 39-year-old Pitti, also chairman of EaseMyTrip, in Delhi are also being covered, they said.

An email sent by PTI to the company seeking response on the ED action against their promoter remained unanswered till the publishing of this report.

According to the company's website, EaseMyTrip.com was established in 2008 and was founded by the Pitti brothers-- Nishant, Rikant, and Prashant.

The ED suspects some "proceeds of crime" from the illegal operations of the app (application) went to entities linked to Pitti.

The Mahadev betting app case made headlines after the federal probe agency claimed a few years back that many high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh are alleged to have been involved in the illegal operation and subsequent monetary transactions linked to the app.

Searches have been undertaken in this case in the past too.

The ED has alleged in the past that its probe in the Mahadev Online Betting (MOB) gaming and betting app has shown involvement of various high-ranking politicians and bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh, the state where the two main promoters, Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, of the app hail from.

It had said the MOB app is an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites to enroll new users, create user IDs and laundering of money through a layered web of benami bank accounts.

The agency has arrested 12 people in this case till now and has filed a total of four charge sheets.

It has also attached, frozen or seized properties worth Rs 2,426 crore.

The projected proceeds of crime in this case are about Rs 6,000 crore, as per the agency.

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New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought to know if FIRs were registered after suicides of a IIT Kharagpur student and a NEET aspirant in Kota, Rajasthan, came to light.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan directed its registry to call for a report from both places at the earliest.

The top court noted a 22-year-old student studying in IIT, Kharagpur, was found hanging in his hostel room on May 4, 2025.

"The deceased was a three-year civil engineering student. His body was found hanging in his room in the Madan Mohan Malaviya Hall. The student was identified as Mohammad Asif Qamar from Bihar’s Sheohar District," the bench noted.

The top court went on, "The press reporting indicates that just moments before his death, he was on a video call with his friend in Delhi. This is one of those unfortunate suicides by a student for which we have constituted the task-force to work on the various issues relating to students suicide."

The top court previously ordered the formation of a national task force, headed by former top court judge Justice S Ravindra Bhat, to address the mental health concerns of students to prevent suicides in higher educational institutions.

The apex court said it was taking cognisance of the matter with a view to ascertain whether the management or administration of IIT, Kharagpur lodged an FIR with the local police station in accordance with its earlier directions.

It also took into account another case of suicide by a NEET aspirant who hanged herself at her room in Parshavanath area in the city ahead of the National Medical Entrants Examination scheduled on May 11.

"It is reported that the girl was under 18 years of age and hailed from Sheopur in Madhya Pradesh. She had been living with her parents in Kota (Rajasthan) and for the past several years, she was preparing for NEET-UG at a coaching institute," the court added.

The bench observed it was reportedly the fourteenth case of suicide by a coaching student in Kota, Rajasthan in 2025.

"Since January, 2025, a total of 17 cases of suicides by coaching students were reported in Kota last year. We would like to know whether an FIR has been registered in connection with this suicide also or not," the bench said.

The matter then was posted on May 13.

Outlining a disturbing pattern of student suicides in educational institutions, the apex court on March 24 directed Delhi Police to register an FIR and probe the suicidal deaths of two IIT-Delhi students from the SC/ST community.

Saying it was "high time" that it took cognisance of the "serious issue", the court ordered formulation of comprehensive and effective guidelines to address and mitigate the underlying causes contributing to such distress among students.

The bench directed the Centre to deposit Rs 20 lakh with the registry within two weeks as an outlay for the initial operations of the NTF.

Noting a "disturbing pattern" of student suicides were being reported from various educational institutes, the apex court said these tragedies underscored the urgent need for a more robust, comprehensive and responsive mechanism to address various factors which compel students to resort to taking their own lives.