Legal storm hits Mahesh Babu over real estate endorsement
The complainant alleged that Mahesh Babu's celebrity association with the project gave it an air of legitimacy, leading her to invest in what later turned out to be a fraudulent venture. The doctor has now sought legal redress, holding the actor partially accountable under consumer protection laws for lending credibility to the firm's misleading claims.
This isn't the first time Mahesh Babu's name has been linked to Sai Surya Developers. Back in April 2025, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned the actor in connection with a money laundering probe involving the developer and the Surana Group. According to ED findings, Mahesh was paid approximately ₹5.9 crore, a portion of which was allegedly disbursed in cash, for endorsing their real estate projects.
While Mahesh Babu has not been named an accused at this point, his involvement as a brand ambassador is drawing increased scrutiny from investigative and legal bodies alike.
Despite the legal turbulence, the actor remains professionally active and is currently filming his much-awaited project, SSMB 29, directed by SS Rajamouli. The film features an ensemble cast including Priyanka Chopra and Prithviraj Sukumaran, and is expected to be a pan-India spectacle.
As the investigation intensifies, more updates are anticipated in the coming weeks, potentially shaping the legal course for celebrity endorsements in real estate ventures.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
38 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Assam engineer made ₹10 lakh from morphing image of woman to defame her: Police
A mechanical engineer in Assam's Tinsukia district has been arrested for allegedly creating and monetising AI-generated pornographic content using morphed images of a woman he knew, a senior police officer said on Sunday. Dibrugarh Senior Superintendent of Police (in-charge) Sizal Agarwal said a complaint was received from the victim on Saturday.(Representational Image) While the criminal act began as a personal vendetta, it soon turned into a money-making scheme for the accused, earning him nearly ₹10 lakh by putting the content behind a paid subscription wall, PTI reported. As per the police, the accused used advanced AI software to generate explicit videos and images featuring the woman's face and then circulated them across social media platforms. Also Read | Morphed pictures of Ludhiana woman circulated, Mumbai-based man booked Dibrugarh Senior Superintendent of Police (in-charge) Sizal Agarwal said a complaint was received from the victim on Saturday stating that her morphed images and videos were being used to defame her. The content had gone viral following a manipulated image linking her to an adult film actor, sparking false rumours that she had entered the adult film industry in the US. "We received a complaint yesterday that the morphed and AI-generated photos and videos of the victim were being circulated on social media. The reference of an Instagram page was included with it, and when we searched for credentials of the page owner, we found a phone number which we traced to the accused," Agarwal said. Also Read | Bengaluru-based Instagram page admin arrested for filming women on streets without consent "The accused had used the image of the victim to generate several obscene content and pornographic materials using AI software. They have a past acquaintance, and he did it due to personal reasons," he added. Police traced the account responsible for circulating the fake content through a phone number linked to an Instagram page, and the accused was arrested late Saturday night in Tinsukia. "There was a subscription link to the adult content that he had posted, and people had to pay to access it. He earned about ₹10 lakh through it. He kept on continuing the crime as he got greedy, though he had initiated it for harassing the woman," she said. Also Read | 26-year-old arrested in Bengaluru for filming, posting private videos of women online A search of his belongings led to the seizure of digital evidence, including a laptop, mobile phones, hard drives, and other devices used in the operation. Authorities are now involving multiple cybercrime and forensic agencies to further investigate the scope of the digital crime and track any additional individuals who may have purchased or shared the illicit material. Agarwal also urged people to be careful while accessing online content and, have a closer look before circulating any information they receive on social media.
Hindustan Times
38 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Police form SIT, women's commissions register cases in alleged rape at IIM-C
Kolkata: The Kolkata police on Sunday formed a nine-member special investigation team (SIT) while the West Bengal Commission for Women and its national counterpart registered suo-motu cases in the alleged rape of a 24-year-old woman on Friday by a second-year Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C) student inside his hostel room on the campus, officials said. Police personnel deployed at IIM Calcutta after a student was allegedly raped inside the boys' hostel of the institute, in Kolkata, on Sunday. (PTI) The accused, Paramanand Mahaveer Toppannawar, 26, a resident of Karnataka, was arrested in the early hours of Saturday on the basis of a complaint lodged by the survivor at the Haridevpur police station in Kolkata. 'The SIT will probe all angles in the case. Phone calls made by the accused and the survivor and the chat history on their phone apps are being studied. Footages from all security cameras inside and outside the campus have been collected,' a police officer said requesting anonymity. 'The accused may be asked to take a medico-legal test. The clothes he wore during the alleged crime have been seized,' he added. Although the woman — a psychological counsellor who had met the IIM-C student on social media — had alleged in her complaint that she was drugged and sexually assaulted, her father told the media on Saturday that nothing happened to her. He claimed that she was 'asked to file the complaint' but did not elaborate. He did not face the media on Sunday. 'The woman refused to undergo a medical test till Sunday evening. This has to be done within 48 hours in a rape case,' said a second police officer. 'Security personnel on the IIM-C campus are being questioned to find out how a woman could reach a student's hostel room without signing the register for guests. We are also checking whether the student called the woman for psychological counselling as was claimed,' said the second police officer. 'Toppannawar's parents are also being questioned,' he added. State women's commission chairperson Leena Gangopadhyay said : 'We have taken suo motu cognizance because this is a serious offence. We are in touch with the Haridevpur police station.' With IIMC-C being a central institute, the issue triggered a political row with Archana Majumdar, a West Bengal-based member of the National Commission for Women, also taking cognizance of the case. 'The victim did not say in her complaint that she was raped. She said she was sexually assaulted. Her father also told the media that nothing happened to her. I tried to contact her father but his phone is switched off,' Majumdar said. The Bharatiya Janata Party targeted the ruling Trinamool Congress citing some recent incidents of rape and molestation in the state. 'Statements made by the woman's father and the circumstances indicate that there was a conspiracy,' former BJP state president Rahul Sinha said. TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, 'We fail to understand what politics has got to do with the alleged rape of a woman inside a central institute's campus by a student.' According to the complaint, the survivor started to feel dizzy after having pizza and water that the accused had offered her for lunch in his hostel room. Toppannawar was charged under Sections 64 (rape), 123 (administering drug to commit offence), 127(2) (wrongful confinement), 115(12) (voluntarily causing hurt) and 76 (forcefully disrobing a woman) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Kolkata's Alipore court remanded him in police custody till July 19 on Saturday.
Time of India
42 minutes ago
- Time of India
J'khand couple arrested for stealing gold ornament from S'garh shop
Rourkela: A Jharkhand-based couple was arrested on Saturday for stealing a gold ornament from a jewellery shop at Daily Market in Rajgangpur, Sundargarh district around five days ago. The arrested couple was identified as Sonu Sinha (40) and Chandni Devi (30) of Kanke (Jharkhand). According to the police, Chandni, along with her 11-year-old son, entered the jewellery store around 6:30pm on July 8 and asked the shopkeeper to show her a gold pendant and when the latter displayed a range of pendants in front of her, she picked up one of them discreetly and left the store. Later that day, the shopkeeper noticed that one of the pendants was missing. He then lodged an FIR at Rajgangpur police station and subsequently, the couple was nabbed in Jharkhand. Upon interrogation, Chandni confessed to the crime and said that her husband was waiting in a car outside the jewellery shop on July 8 when she went inside the store and stole the pendant. "We are probing to find out if other persons were involved with the couple in the crime," M R Pradhan, inspector in-charge of Rajgangpur police station, said.
