FIR Against Vijay Deverakonda, Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj & Other Tollywood Actors For Allegedly Promoting Betting Apps

FIR has been filed against 25 celebrities for allegedly promoting betting apps. Some of them are the biggest names from the Telugu film industry like Vijay Deverakonda, Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj, Manchu Lakhsmi, Praneetha, and Nidhi Agarwal. The FIR has been registered after a businessman named Phanindra Sarma filed a complaint.

The FIR was filed at the Miyapur Police Station, Hyderabad. The complaint was filed on March 19, 2025, highlighting a trend of celebrities and influencers promoting illegal gambling and betting apps.

According to the complaint, these famous personalities (actors and influencers) are allegedly charging huge amount to promote various betting platforms. According to NDTV, the complaint says, "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 complainant has stated that even he was also going to deposit the amount in one of them apps but he didn't do it after his family warned him. The FIR also states, "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 has been filed under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections related to cheating and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act and state laws.

Apart from the above mentioned actors, FIR has been filed against many other celebs and influencers like 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.

According to NDTV, While talking about the FIR, Prakash Raj agreed that he had appeared in such an ad back in 2015. However, he further said, "We opted out after a year." The actor added that he was trying to get more details about the case.