Hyderabad: A 25-year-old man died by suicide on Saturday, April 5, near Secunderabad railway station after allegedly losing large sums of money to online betting and gaming apps.
A private employee and a resident of Suchitra Center, Rajveer Singh Thakur, lived with his paternal uncle. He started investing in online betting and gaming apps, costing him huge financial losses, police said.
He then borrowed money from friends, but failed to return it. “He kept borrowing money to clear the debts taken to cover losses from online betting games but was unable to repay it. This mounted mental pressure on him,” police said.
His paternal uncle tried to help him, but it was in vain. On Saturday, Thakur jumped in front of a goods train at Secunderabad railway station.
Based on a complaint lodged by Thakur’s uncle, the Government Railway Police registered an FIR. Further investigations are underway.
Five-member SIT to probe online betting cases in Telangana
On March 31, the Telangana police formed a five-member special investigation team (SIT) to conduct a thorough investigation into online betting cases in Telangana and submit a report in three months.
Speaking to the media, the Telangana director general of police (DGP) Jitender said that apart from investigating the cases, the SIT will also look into the dimensions of the betting and gaming apps and how they are affecting the citizens.
Zero tolerance against online betting apps
The idea of the government is that there should be ‘zero-tolerance’ against betting and gaming apps, DGP Jitender said.
Police in Hyderabad have recently registered cases against illegal betting apps and promoters following complaints that these applications lured the youth and general public to make easy money and eventually led them to complete financial and psychological breakdown.
The cases were registered against the managements of the illegal betting apps/other applications, a few film actors and several social media influencers for allegedly promoting online betting apps through social media platforms under various provisions of the Gaming Act, BNS and IT Act.
Some film and TV actresses and social media influencers have recently appeared before the police in connection with the investigation into online betting apps.
