T’gana sets up SIT to probe betting apps, promoters

The Telangana government will constitute a special investigation team (SIT) to curb the activities of mobile betting applications, online rummy, and digital betting games, chief minister A Revanth Reddy announced in the state assembly on Wednesday.

Revanth Reddy said stringent action would be initiated against anyone who directly or indirectly promoted or participated in the management of betting apps. “We shall amend the laws, if necessary, to punish the accused stringently. I want to make them clear that Telangana is not the place for betting addictions,” he said.

Stating that online betting has become an international crime, the chief minister said the menace could not be solved permanently by the state police alone. Neighbouring states and even other countries should also investigate the online betting cases seriously, he said.

On March 20, the Miyapur police in Hyderabad booked 25 film actors and social media influences for promoting various online betting mobile applications. The celebrities include Daggubati Rana, Vijay Devarakonda, Prakash Raj, Nidhi Agarwal, Manchu Lakshmi, Praneetha, Ananya Nagalla, Vishnu Priya, Shyamala, etc.

The police booked them under Sections 318(4), 112 read with 49 of Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita, Sec 3, 3(A), 4 of Telangana State Gaming Act and Sec. 66 (D) of the IT Act. On Monday, the police included the names of managements of 19 websites and apps that are organising the games. They submitted a memo to the court regarding this development.

While the police questioned some of the actors and social media influencers, popular actors like Prakash Raj and Vijay Devarakonda admitted to have promoted certain apps in the past, but their contract with those agencies had ended long ago.