FIR filed in Mahadev betting case, Dabur Group's Burmans deny charges

The Burman family, which runs Dabur Group, has denied any involvement or role in an illegal cricket-betting app as alleged by the Mumbai police in a complaint filed last week.

The family said vested interests were behind the police complaint and they wanted to scuttle their (Dabur’s) move to acquire Religare Enterprises, a financial services company.

“We have not received any formal communication on any such FIR (first information report). However, we have seen the FIR, which is being circulated to media houses. The FIR is patently false and baseless.

Nothing could be further from the truth than what has been wrongly stated in the FIR,” said a spokesperson for the family, referring to the police document.

According to the FIR, filed on November 7, the Mumbai police have registered a complaint against 32 people, including the promoter of the Mahadev app, under various sections of fraud and gambling.

The police have named Mohit Burman, chairman of the business group; Gaurav Burman, director of the group; and others in the FIR.

The spokesperson said from a copy of the FIR being circulated in the media, the family had noted that allegations were being made that Mohit and Gaurav were directly related to some of the accused.

“Mohit Burman and Gaurav Burman do not even know or have ever met the accused mentioned in the FIR being circulated selectively in the media,” the spokesperson said.

“Curiously, the FIR comes at a time when the Burman Family has sought to increase its existing shareholding of 21.24 per cent in Religare Enterprises and launched a legitimate open offer under the SEBI Takeover Code. As part of this, the Burman Family brought to the notice of the Board and the regulators certain governance issues being perpetrated by Rashmi Saluja, the current Chairman [of Religare],” said the statement of the group.
“This FIR is nothing but a step provoked by vested interests in an attempt to block the acquisition of Religare Enterprises by the Burman Family.

“The Burman Family remains shocked at these ‘arm twisting’ moves, which are grossly illegal.

Nevertheless, we remain resolute that we will proceed with our acquisition of Religare Enterprises as contemplated,” it said.