Rana Daggubati, Vijay Devarakonda and others booked for promoting betting apps
Action follows after senior IPS officer and TGSRTC Managing Director VC Sajjanar launched an awareness campaign explaining ill-effects of betting apps
Hyderabad: The Cyberabad police booked a criminal case against popular film actors - Rana Daggubati, Vijay Devarakonda, Prakash Raj, Manchu Lakshmi, Praneetha, and Nidhi Agarwal, among others for promoting betting apps in violation of norms through pop-up adds on various social media platforms.
The case was booked under provisions of 318(4), 112 read with 49 BNS and Section 3, 3(A), 4 of TS Gaming Act and Section (D) of IT Act based on a complaint lodged by PM Phanindra Sarma, a businessman and a resident of Miyapur.
The police initiated action against the betting apps and those promoting them only after the senior IPS officer and TGSRTC Managing Director VC Sajjanar launched an awareness campaign explaining the ill-effects of these apps.
In his complaint, Sarma said that while interacting with his colony community youngsters, most of them started discussing investing money in betting, gambling and casino apps which were being promoted by celebrities and influencers’ on social media.
It has come to his knowledge that people were actively engaging in such apps and most of them have already lost their hard earned money in it. He was also influenced by such betting applications, and was about to deposit in one betting, gambling and casino website, but due to his family’s word of caution, he did not do so.
While using his social media applications, especially Instagram and Facebook, he noticed several celebrities and influencers, who were actively promoting several illegal betting apps, websites and other platforms that have to be downloaded on mobile phones and used for betting and gambling.
The influencers and celebrities were promoting these apps and websites by accepting huge money as commission, and remuneration. These platforms were encouraging the public, especially people who were in dire need of money, to invest their hard earned money into those apps or websites and slowly get addicted to them.
All the above-referred betting applications were in direct violation of the gambling laws and regulations, especially, the Public Gambling Act, causing harm to individuals and society by encouraging the addictive easy money-making mechanisms, leading to distress.
The 25 celebrities and influencers who were found to evidently promoting the illegal betting, gambling and casino applications and websites are Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj, Vijay Devarakonda, Manchu Lakshmi, Praneetha, Nidhi Agarwal, Ananya Nagella, Siri Hanumanthu, Sreemukhi, Varshini Sounderajan, Vasanthi Krishnan, Shoba Shetty, Amrutha Chowdary, Nayani Pavani, Neha Pathan, Pandu, Padhmavathi, Imran Khan, Vishnu Priya, Harsha Sai, Bayya Sunny Yadav, Shyamala, Tastyteja, Rithu Chowdhary and Bandaru Sheshayani Supritha.
The celebrities and influencers were involved directly through promotional videos and pop-up ads. There were many more individuals promoting the gambling, betting and casino apps and websites which were targeted towards luring people to make easy money and eventually lead them into complete breakdown financially.
These social media advertisements made with the help of celebrities and influencers reach the target audience automatically without even the users actually searching for it, which further exacerbates the problem. Thousands of lakhs of rupees were involved in these illegal platforms, especially that of middle-class and lower middle-class.