Vijayawada: Visakhapatnam police arrested a social media influencer, Vasupalli Nani, popularly known as ‘Local Boy Nani‘, for promoting illegal online betting applications through social networking platforms. Cybercrime police took him into custody.
Police said, on Friday, a resident of Visakhapatnam lodged a complaint alleging he suffered huge financial losses after being influenced by social media promotions of betting apps such as Dafabet, Parimatch, Mahadevbook, and Rajabet. The complainant claimed he was lured into online betting due to misleading promotions by influencers and ended up in heavy debt.
During the investigation, it was discovered that Nani had uploaded a promotional video on his YouTube and Instagram accounts, encouraging youth to invest in these betting apps, which promised high returns with minimal investment.
Police found he received monetary benefits from these promotions. Inquiries revealed several other social media influencers were also involved in promoting such betting platforms. Currently, efforts are underway to identify those involved and later, take legal action against them.
Based on the evidence, cybercrime police arrested influencer Nani on Saturday and produced him before the magistrate, who subsequently remanded him. The cops have warned that stringent action will be taken against anyone found misleading the public by promoting betting apps for their personal financial gain. City police commissioner Shanka Brata Bagchi issued a warning regarding the same.
