Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj and Vijay Deverakonda and several other Telugu actors and social media content creators have been booked for allegedly promoting betting apps through pop-up ads on their online platforms. Some of them have also been booked for creating promotional videos for such apps.
Among the 25 individuals booked in the same case by the Miyapur police, are actors Manchu Lakshmi, Nidhhi Agerwal, and Ananya Nagalla, as well as popular content creators such as Siri Hanumanthu, Sreemukhi, Vishnu Priya, Harsha Sai, Bayya Sunny Yadav, Shyamala and others.
They have been booked by the Cyberabad police under Sections 318(4) (cheating) and112 (petty organised crime) read with 49 (abetment) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and relevant sections of the Telangana Gaming Act, 1974, and the Information Technology Act.
In recent weeks, the Telangana police have booked several cases against content creators for promoting betting, gambling, or fraudulent investment apps, based on complaints from people who used these apps and suffered losses. However, this is the first time that popular film actors have been named in such a case.
The police registered a case on a complaint by one Phanindra Sharma, a resident of Miyapur, who stated that he found several celebrities and social media influencers actively promoting illegal betting apps, websites and other platforms. The complainant said the promotion of betting apps was causing harm to individuals and society by encouraging this addictive short-term risky money-making behaviour leading to financial distress.
Varshini Sounderajan, Vasanthi Krishnan, Shoba Shetty, Amrutha Chowdary, Nayani Pavani, Neha Pathan, Pandu, Padmavathi, Imran Khan, Tasty Teja, Rithu Chowdhary and Bandaru Sheshayani Supritha are the other social media influencers named in the FIR.
Earlier on March 17, Punjagutta Police of Hyderabad booked a case against 11 social media influencers on a complaint made by Vinay Vangala, a private employee, who raised concerns over mobile apps and websites promoting gambling activities in violation of the Public Gambling Act of 1867.
As part of the investigation into the case, the police have issued notices to the accused named in the FIR. A few of them appeared before police. Social media influencer Vishnu Priya appeared before the investigating officer on March 20.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (West Zone) SM Vijay Kumar said it was a fact that many youths in Telangana suffered huge losses due to online betting. Upset over the losses, some of the youths have also died by suicide, he said.
On March 16, Cyberabad Police booked YouTuber Harsha Sai for promoting betting apps. The case was booked after a person complained that he lost over Rs 13 lakh in betting after being
Earlier, YouTuber 'Local Boy Nani' of Visakhapatnam and Bayya Sunny Yadav of Hyderabad were also booked for promoting betting apps.
(With IANS inputs)