The Cyberabad police in Telangana booked about 25 people, including Telugu actors and social media influencers, on Wednesday for allegedly promoting illegal betting, gambling and casino apps. The list included actors like Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj, Vijay Deverakonda, Manchu Lakshmi, Praneetha and Nidhi Agarwal, among others. While the other actors are yet to react to the case, actor Prakash Raj took to his social media to issue a clarification. The actor shared a nearly two-minute long video on his X handle, where he confessed that he did do the ad about nine years ago, but later refused to renew his contract as he realised it was not right to promote a betting app. In the video, Prakash shared that he is currently busy shooting and came to know about the police complaint against him through social media. "I have not received any summons or anything from the police station. But whenever I do, I will definitely reply to it. It is my responsibility to reply," said the actor-politician. He then shared details of the time when he took up the ad for the betting app. He said, "In June 2016, Junglee Rummy people had approached me for a gaming app ad and I did do it. But, within few months, I thought it was not right and I couldn't do anything because I had signed a year's contract with them." However, a year later, when it was time for contract renewal, the actor refused to do so. "I said, 'No. My conscious doesn't accept. I don't want to continue.' This happened around 9 years ago. Since then, I have not done any ads which promote online gambling." shared Prakash. My response 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿 #SayNoToBettingAps #justasking pic.twitter.com/TErKkUb6ls — Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) March 20, 2025 Prakash Raj then said that his ad resurfaced in 2021 when the app was allegedly sold to a new party. "In 2021, I guess they sold this app to someone else, who used a couple of snippets of me on social media. We did send them a notice and an email. I said, 'Look, I am not a part of it. I have said no. I told them they couldn't illegally use my snippets as the contract has been expired.' After which, they stopped it." At the end of his video, Prakash assured his followers that now he has taken a conscious decision to not promote betting apps. He also shared a special message for youngsters and said, "I say to all youngsters, don't be victim to such gambling because it ruins lives. Say no to betting apps." Actors Rana Daggubati and Prakash Raj are accused of promoting Junglee Rummy through pop-up ads. Meanwhile, Arjun Reddy star Vijay Deverakonda is accused of promoting A23 Rummy. Actress Lakshmi Manchu is accused of promoting Yolo247. Meanwhile, actress Praneetha and Nidhi Agarwal allegedly promoted Fairplay Live and Jeet Win, respectively. WATCH | Sobhita Dhulipala ‘loves watching’ husband Naga Chaitanya, says ‘I just drive him crazy’ The police filed the FIR under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 318(4) cheating, and 112 (petty organised crime), read with 49 (abetment); Telangana State Gaming Act (TSGA) sections 3, 3(A) and 4 (common gaming house); and information Technology (IT) Act Section (D) (Cheating by personation using a computer resource). The FIR stated, "These platforms are encouraging public, especially people 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.”
