Telangana police have filed an FIR against 25 celebrities, including Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj, Vijay Devarakonda and Manchu Lakshmi, for allegedly promoting illegal online betting apps, ANI reported on Thursday.

The FIR was lodged with the Miyapur police station in Hyderabad following a complaint by a 32-year-old businessman, Phanindra Sarma, according to a social media post by a Hyderabad journalist.

The complainant accused the celebrities of endorsing or being associated with online betting platforms that are allegedly operating outside the legal framework.

Actresses Pranitha and Nidhhi Agerwal, along with a number of social media influencers, including Ananya, Sreemukhi, Siri Hanumanthu, Shyamala, Varshini, Shobha, Neha, Pandu, Padmavathi, Imran Khan, Vishnu Priya, Harsha Sai, Sunny Yadav, Tasty Teja, and Ritu, were also reportedly named in the complaint.

Later in the day, Prakash Raj reacted to the allegations in a video message he shared on X (formerly Twitter).

"It was in 2016, I did an ad for a betting app. After a few months, I realised it was wrong. It was a one-year contract which has ended. I have not done any such ad since then," said Raj in the video.

The celebrities, who have a massive following on social media platforms, have been accused of endorsing the betting apps through posts, advertisements, and live-streaming events, which reportedly helped the apps gain traction among users.

None of the celebrities named in the complaint issued any public statement in response to the allegations by the time this report was filed.

The issue of illegal betting and gambling apps has been a growing concern across the country, with several states already taking stringent actions against various forms of gambling, with the exception of horse racing, lottery and some card games. Goa and Sikkim are the only states that allow setting up of casinos for gambling.