Telangana to appoint SIT to curb betting apps menace

CM Reddy emphasized the government's commitment to maintaining strict vigilance and taking decisive action against these digital gambling platforms.

Hyderabad: Telangana is set to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate betting and online rummy apps. During Wednesday's assembly session, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy announced the formation of this SIT.

The decision follows multiple police cases in Hyderabad over the last few days against social media influencers and celebrity actors who allegedly promoted betting apps. Addressing the assembly, the Chief Minister characterized online betting as an emerging international-level criminal enterprise.

He emphasized the government's commitment to maintaining strict vigilance and taking decisive action against these digital gambling platforms. Specifically, he outlined plans to establish the SIT with the primary objective of preventing and prohibiting online betting and rummy activities.

Recognizing the complexity of the issue, Revanth Reddy highlighted the need to revise existing legal frameworks and punishment structures for online betting and rummy-related offenses. He argued that merely investigating promoters of these platforms would be insufficient to address the underlying problems.

“The state government decided to take stringent action on online apps, online rummy, online betting, and digital betting games. Online betting fraud will not be solved permanently by just probing the state agencies. Neighboring states and countries should also investigate seriously. The government decided to constitute a Special Investigative Team to take all necessary steps to curb the betting menace. Strict action will be taken against anyone who directly or indirectly promotes or participates in the management of betting apps. We are ready to amend the laws, if necessary, to punish stringently. Telangana is not the place for betting addictions. Some political forces are alleging that law and order is not being maintained in the state. State police are alert and taking action even if a minor incident is reported,” said Revanth Reddy.

Following their action against social media influencers, Hyderabad police also registered cases against prominent Tollywood celebrities, including Rana Daggubati, Vijay Deverakonda, Prakash Raj, and Manchu Lakshmi, for allegedly promoting betting apps.

This development comes just days after police booked 11 social media influencers who had promoted betting apps on their social media platforms. On Thursday, Miyapur police registered an FIR against 25 individuals, including these well-known actors.

According to the FIR, those named in the FIR include actors Rana Daggubati, Vijay Deverakonda, Prakash Raj, Manchu Lakshmi, Pranitha, and Nidhi Agarwal. The list also includes social media influencers Ananya Nagalla, Siri Hanumanthu, Srimukhi, Varshini Soundararajan, Vasanthi Krishnan, Shobha Shetty, Amrutha Chowdhary, Nayani Pavani, Neha Pathan, Pandu, Padmavathi, Imran Khan, Vishnu Priya, Harsha Sai, Bayya Sunny Yadav, Shyamala, Tasty Teja, Rithu Chowdhary, and Bandaru Sheshayani Supritha.

The police have identified the betting apps and websites that were allegedly promoted. These individuals allegedly promoted these platforms through pop-up ads, social media handles, and promotional videos.