Popular Tollywood actors Prakash Raj, Rana Daggubati, and Vijay Deverakonda along with 22 other celebrities are facing police action in Telangana after being booked for promoting illegal betting apps. The Cyberabad police in Telangana filed an FIR against 25 celebrities and influencers based on a complaint filed by a businessman Phaninda Sarma for allegedly promoting illegal betting, gambling and casino apps and causing financial loss to the public.
The celebrities and influencers named in the FIR reportedly include Pranitha Subhash, Manchu Lakshmi, Nidhi Agarwal, Ananya Nagalla, Siri Hanumanthu, Sreemukhi, Varshini Sounderajan, Vasanthi Krishnan, Shoba Shetty, Amrutha Chowdary, Nayani Pavani, Neha Pathan, Pandu, Padhmavathi, Imran Khan, Vishnu Priya, Harsha Sai, Sunny Yadav, Shyamala, Tasty Teja, and Bandaru Sheshayani Supritha. As per reports, actors Prakash Raj and Rana Daggubati are accused of promoting Junglee Rummy through pop-up ads. Vijay Deverakonda, Manchu Lakshmi, Pranitha Subhash and Nidhi Aggarwal allegedly promoted A23 Rummy, Yolo247, Fairplay Live and Jeet Win respectively by way of pop-up ads.
The complainant alleged that people have been losing their money through these apps. He said that he could also have fallen victim to one such app by depositing his money but he was prevented by his family. He added that several celebrities have been promoting these apps for huge sums of money. The FIR stated that these apps are leading to financial distress in many families. “Thousands of lakhs of rupees are involved in these illegal platforms and it is also leading many families into distress, especially that of middle-class and lower middle-class,” the FIR stated. “These platforms are encouraging the public, especially people that are in dire need of money, to invest their hard-earned and family money into those apps/websites and slowly get addicted to them, leading to total financial collapse,” the FIR said.
The police have started an investigation into these apps and have been trying to track the people behind these apps. “This is just the beginning of that investigation. We will see what are these apps, who are the people involved, what is the source of these apps, and other aspects. Based on the merit of the case and evidence available, we will go forward,” Commissioner of Police Avinash Mohanty told Indian Express.
The FIR has been lodged under sections 318(4) (cheating), 112(petty organised crime) read with 49(abetment) of the BNS, sections 3, 3A and 4 of the Telangana State Gaming Act (TSGA) and section 66(D) (cheating by personation using a computer resource) of the Information Technology (IT) Act.
