Six Tollywood actors booked for promoting betting apps

Hyderabad:  In a new twist to the alleged promotion of betting apps by celebrities, Cyberabad Police have registered a case against Tollywood actors Rana Daggubati, Vijaya Devarakonda, Prakash Raj, Manchu Lakshmi, Nidhi Agarwal and others.

A case against six actors and 19 social media influencers has been registered at Miyapur Police Station of Cyberabad Commissionerate.

The First Information Report (FIR) has been registered under sections 318 (4), 112 r/w 49 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 3, 3 (A) and 4 of Telangana Gaming Act and 66D of Information Technology Act 2008.

The police registered a case on a complaint by one Phanidra 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.

Ananya Nagella, Siri Hanumanthu, Sreemukhi, Varshini Sounderajan, Vasanthi Krishnan, Shoba Shetty, Amrutha Chowdary, Nayani Pavani, Neha Pathan, Pandu, Padmavathi, Imran Khan, Vishnu Priya, Harsha Sai, Sayya Sunny Yadav, Shyamala, Tasty Teja, Rithu Chowdhary and Bandaru Sheshayani Supritha are the social media influencers named in the FIR.

Though Hyderabad and Cyberabad Police recently registered cases against social media influencers for allegedly promoting betting apps, for the first time, an FIR has been booked against actors.

Punjagutta Police of Hyderabad on Monday booked a case against 11 social media influencers on a complaint made by one Vinay Vangala (40), 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 Thursday.

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 youth died by suicide.

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.

–IANS