Hyderabad:
Renowned actors Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj, Vijay Devarakonda and Manchu Lakshmi are among 25 celebrities who face a police case in Telangana for allegedly promoting illegal betting apps. The FIR has been filed after a businessman, Phanindra Sarma, filed a complaint.
The celebrities and influencers named in the FIR also include Praneetha, 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.
The FIR says these platforms promote their apps and websites through social media advertisements with the help of celebrities and influencers. “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,” it adds.
The complainant has said that people are actively using these apps and many have lost their hard-earned money. He has said he too was about to deposit in one such website but stepped back after his family warned him. The complainant has said several celebrities and influencers are actively promoting these illegal betting apps after accepting huge sums as and remuneration. “These platforms are encouraging 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 says.
The FIR has been filed under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections related to cheating and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act and state laws.
Reacting to the FIR, actor Prakash Raj said he had appeared in such an ad “way back in 2015”. “We opted out after a year,” he said, adding that he was trying to get detailed information about the case.
The case against some of the top celebrities in Telugu cinema is likely to raise a storm, especially because it comes months after Telangana police arrested Allu Arjun. The actor was arrested in December after a woman died in the chaos at the premiere of Pushpa 2: The Rule at a cinema hall in Hyderabad. Allu Arjun had attended the premiere and the crowd got out of control to catch a glimpse of him. Police had contended the actor’s appearance at the premiere was unscheduled and no security arrangements were made to handle the rush.
The actor’s arrest had sparked a massive row, drawing criticism from the Congress’s political rivals and key voices in the film industry. Amid the uproar, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had met a delegation of filmmakers and actors and told them that while the state government stands with the film fraternity, there will be no compromise on law and order.
