Hyderabad:

The complaint, lodged at the Miyapur Police Station in Hyderabad on March 19, 2025, states that these celebrities and influencers have been endorsing illegal gambling apps that violate the Public Gambling Act of 1867. The petition highlights the damaging impact these apps have on lower and middle-class families, often targeting young users with the promise of easy money through gambling. Many of the accused individuals reportedly earned large sums of money to promote these platforms.

In a significant development, the Cyberabad Police have registered a case against 25 individuals, including prominent Tollywood actors such as Rana Daggubati, Vijay Deverakonda, Prakash Raj, Manchu Lakshmi, and Nidhi Agarwal, for allegedly promoting illegal betting and gambling apps.

The case was registered following a complaint by a Hyderabad resident, Phanindra Sharma, who voiced concerns about the growing influence of celebrities and social media influencers in promoting these platforms, which he believes are causing financial harm to vulnerable individuals.

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.

The accused are popular names from the film industry as well as social media influencers 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.

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.

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