{"id":665625,"date":"2026-05-12T08:29:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T08:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/665625\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T08:29:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T08:29:14","slug":"nit-student-textile-worker-victims-differ-their-stories-dont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/665625\/","title":{"rendered":"NIT student, textile worker\u2014victims differ, their stories don\u2019t"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pawan was among the four students at NIT Kurukshetra who died allegedly by suicide over the past few months. He had written in his purported suicide note, according to the police, that he had lost a lot of money to online betting.<\/p>\n

Pawan\u2019s case is not a one-off. Police say that within his college, other matters linked to betting and financial distress have come to light. But even beyond the limits of NIT Kurukshetra, several people across India have fallen victim to the trap that is online betting, which often begins with smaller amounts and promises of easy money, but quickly turns into big losses and debt. What follows is a cycle of borrowing, desperation and the urge to make yet another bet\u2014and in some cases, even suicide.<\/p>\n

In Telangana, for instance, CM Revanth Reddy told the Assembly that 51 people died by suicide after losses and distress due to online gambling between 2023 and February this year.<\/p>\n

The Narendra Modi government\u2019s Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules, 2026 are now in force\u2014a move which comes after the menace took its toll on nearly 45 crore people, who suffered cumulative insurmountable losses of over Rs 20,000 crore, according to the Centre.<\/p>\n

Telangana Police have also launched a campaign against online betting platforms and apps over the last 18 months, the state\u2019s Cyber Security Bureau Director Shikha Goel says. \u201cOver the last year and a half, 256 such applications have been taken down.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, for tragedy-stricken families, the crackdown comes rather late. All that is left is pain, shock and a string of unanswered questions.<\/p>\n

Also Read: ED takes note of leading dailies for \u2018surrogate ads\u2019 of illegal betting platforms \u2018preying\u2019 on users<\/a><\/p>\n

Pawan\u2019s diary<\/p>\n

About a month after his death, Pawan\u2019s house in Nuh wears a dejected look. The paint is peeling off the walls. One room has bags of wheat stored, and the now remaining members of the family\u2014Pawan\u2019s father, mother and two siblings\u2014sleep in the other room.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pawan was the eldest child. His brother is training to be a weightlifter, and sister is studying physiotherapy.<\/p>\n

Pawan did well at school academically. With a score of 91 percent in Class 10 and 85 percent in Class 12 alongside preparation for JEE, he had his eyes set on IIT. Even though he eventually ended up in the Bachelor of Electrical Engineering course at NIT, it was still a big deal for his father. Most others his age in their native village Ghaseda work only odd jobs\u2014a driver, or a salesperson at a medical store. His mother Seema says the family took out a Rs 3.75 lakh loan to send him to college.<\/p>\n

\n\"Pawan'sPawan\u2019s family at their residence in Nuh. His mother sits holding his picture | Samridhi Tewari | ThePrint\n<\/p>\n

During his time at college, his father tells ThePrint, one issue the third-year student consistently dealt with was credit card bills. \u201cHe would often tell me that he needed money. He was forced to borrow money from his friends. The same friends lent him the money using their credit cards. I don\u2019t know why the money was being borrowed. My son never shared any problems with me. I am still left with so many questions\u2026\u201d Bijender says.<\/p>\n

He adds that Pawan managed to pay back all the debt that his friends had been pressuring him to repay. \u201cHis friends harassed him a lot, asking him\u2026 forcing him\u2026 Had they not done that, my son would have been alive\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bijender also lodged an FIR in connection with the matter, alleging abetment. But the police said no action has been taken against any student, and they are looking at all angles.<\/p>\n

In their last conversation on 30 March\u2014a day before his death\u2014Pawan had asked Bijender to transfer Rs 10,000 to him, saying his friend had a credit card bill he needed to repay. \u201cThat was a lot of money. I refused. The next day, I decided to go meet him. I had been missing him, and thought I\u2019d also give him the money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bijender called Pawan, but there was no response. He reached NIT campus at around 7 pm. What he saw in the hostel left him aghast. He called the hostel warden, college administrators, police and hospital.<\/p>\n

Kurukshetra Superintendent of Police Chander Mohan tells ThePrint that Pawan had been involved in online betting and gambling for the past few years. \u201cWe recovered a diary, where he mentioned that he was into betting and gambling since his school days. He also had suicidal tendencies, and had written about the same in his diary.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to another senior police officer, he had written in the diary that he had taken bank loans for credit cards, and was struggling to repay them. \u201cHe had asked his father multiple times. Even a day before his death, he had asked his father. He mentioned in his diary that he could not keep asking his father to keep repaying his loans.\u201d<\/p>\n

The SP says that the police have asked all banks in the vicinity to stop issuing credit cards to NIT students to prevent any untoward incidents.<\/p>\n

Back in 2024, Bijender had first repaid Rs 1,50,000 of an apparent loan that his son had taken from his friends. \u201cHe never told me what the money was for. He just told me his friends were spending the money, and that he had been forced to pay the bills,\u201d he recalls. A few months later, he had to send him Rs 75,000 again.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter everything transpired, I saw newspaper headlines about what was going on in the college. They said Pawan was into online betting. We did not know any of that. If we had known, we would have stopped our child and ensured he wouldn\u2019t take such a step. We find it hard to believe\u2026\u201d says Seema.<\/p>\n

Pawan did not share much with anybody at home. \u201cEven if he was worried, he wouldn\u2019t tell me. He would think I\u2019d start crying,\u201d his mother adds. \u201cWe spent every penny we had to raise him\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Inquiry in the matter continues, police say.<\/p>\n

\n\"Pawan'sPawan\u2019s father (right) and brother (centre). His family says they had no clue about his online betting addiction | Samridhi Tewari | ThePrint\n<\/p>\n

\u2018My husband lost our savings\u2019<\/p>\n

Around 50 km away from Nuh, another family suffered a similar tragedy last year. In August 2025, Bhudev Mahto, a 38-year-old textile factory worker, allegedly died by suicide after losing around Rs 5 lakh in the span of just two months.<\/p>\n

A native of Purulia district in West Bengal, Bhudev had moved to Gurugram about 15 years ago. He, his wife and their two children lived in a rented accommodation in Bas Kusla Village in IMT Manesar. The village is an industrial neighbourhood populated by migrant workers from various states who work in factories and manufacturing units.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bhudev worked as a helper in a textile factory, and his wife Prabhati worked in another such unit. According to police, on 22 August last year, between 5 and 5.30 pm, he returned early from work, when his wife was not yet home. When she returned later that evening, she found her husband dead.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not know my husband was into online betting. He would mention several times that he had loans to repay, but I did not know what these loans were,\u201d Prabhati says.<\/p>\n

The couple used to collectively earn around Rs 20,000-25,000, and would send the money back home. Their children, now aged 10 and 13, studied in a residential school in Purulia.<\/p>\n

\n\"BhudevBhudev Mahto, a migrant worker in Manesar, died by suicide in August 2025 | Image via special arrangement\n<\/p>\n

Prabhati has now moved back. The children have been enrolled in a government school because she barely has any savings left to spend on their schooling. Bhudev spent it all on online bets.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time money would get credited to my bank account, I would be happy. But I was never made aware of the money that would be deducted. That SMS would never come. It was only after my husband\u2019s death that I found out he was stressed because his bank balance kept dipping,\u201d Prabhati recalls.<\/p>\n

Bhudev\u2019s colleagues at the factory later told Prabhati that he had been playing games online since March-April last year. \u201cThese were small bets that became difficult for his pocket. Initially, there were modest profits, which encouraged him, and soon he invested a significant portion of his savings in the app\u2026 and eventually, lost it all,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Also Read: \u2018Fruit of a poisoned tree\u2019: Why Delhi HC ruled profits from illegal betting are \u2018proceeds of crime\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018A pattern\u2019<\/p>\n

Offline betting is not uncommon in India, but higher accessibility and the perception of profitability add to the appeal of online platforms. The risks are unavoidable, however.<\/p>\n

Phanindra Sarma, a 32-year-old advocate and social activist from Cyberabad in Telangana, says that his milkman, a young boy, would frequently talk about his online betting activity. He would bet around Rs 2,000 a day. Some days, it would produce a profit, and on other occasions, he would lose the money. \u201cI started noticing he would be stressed because of the losses. He had put in all his savings,\u201d Sarma says.<\/p>\n

Not just his milkman, many others in Sarma\u2019s colony have indulged in online betting\u2014be it cricket or rummy. In fact, one of his neighbours, member of his cricket club, had also allegedly died by suicide over a Rs 2 lakh debt he had accumulated due to losses last year. \u201cWhen we found out it was due to online betting, I started to see a pattern. I knew something was wrong\u2014how and why are so many people ready to put in so much money?\u201d<\/p>\n

In March 2025, Sarma found many of his neighbours discussing how they were putting money in betting, gambling and casino applications, which were being heavily promoted by celebrities and influencers on social media\u2014a driving force for many to invest.<\/p>\n

He says that to dig deeper, he scrolled through Instagram, Telegram and Facebook, where he came across several celebrities and influencers actively endorsing illegal betting apps, websites and other platforms. The public figures promoting these apps and websites do it in exchange for large sums of money as commissions and remuneration, he adds.<\/p>\n

The observation led Sarma to file a complaint with Cyberabad Police last year. \u201cThese platforms are encouraging the public, especially people who are in dire need of money, to invest their hard-earned and family money into those apps\/websites and slowly get addicted to them, leading to total financial collapse,\u201d he submitted in the complaint.<\/p>\n

Beyond the allure that these games offer, police officers probing such cases highlight significant limitations in the crackdown on the apps.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese games are very easy to reproduce with slight tweaks, and in different names. The level of the speed of their return in changed form has not been matched by the law enforcement authorities yet,\u201d an officer in the cybersecurity department of a state says.<\/p>\n

Telangana Cyber Security Bureau\u2019s Goel adds that the role of the payment gateways and banking channels has to be enhanced to the point where it can detect suspicious transactions and fund flows, and generate alerts for firms and law enforcement agencies. \u201cAll funds duped from people flow through payment gateways and banking channels, and regulating them to add these safeguard mechanisms can limit the damage to a great extent.\u201d<\/p>\n

She advocates for a comprehensive regulatory framework to limit the visibility of these apps and platforms over app stores and the internet.<\/p>\n

\u2018Gaming addiction came as a shock\u2019<\/p>\n

In Faridabad, 21-year-old Aditya Bhati from Faridabad could not quite come to terms with a Rs 60,000 loss. He died by suicide in April, shooting himself with the licensed weapon of his uncle, a retired Army man.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was an introvert and did not speak more than needed. He took the loss to heart, affecting his mental health. Had he opened up to anyone in the family, we would have never let it bother him like that,\u201d his uncle Ravinder Bhati tells ThePrint, holding back tears. \u201cEven Rs 6 crore would not be worth more than our beloved child\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the afternoon of 29 April, Aditya went to the bathroom of his ninth-floor house. \u201cHe must have assembled the weapon and bullets, taken it to the bathroom, and shot himself in the head,\u201d his uncle says. His mother and younger brother initially mistook the sound of the bullet shot for noise from the garbage truck in their residential complex.<\/p>\n

Aditya had asked his mother if he could spend about Rs 60,000 on a government examination form. \u201cMy sister-in-law had just casually asked about the form and examinations he was trying to take. It was nothing argumentative,\u201d Bhati adds.<\/p>\n

He recalls his nephew as a bright student who always stood for sincerity, but says that the addiction to online gaming caught the family by surprise.<\/p>\n

The Faridabad Police recovered a suicide note from a diary in Aditya\u2019s room, in which he had opened up about his company and his addiction to online games. \u201cWe are in the process of identifying the games he used to play, and the friends and company he kept at the college,\u201d BPTP Police Station SHO Arvind Kumar tells ThePrint.<\/p>\n

\n\"AdityaAditya Bhati, 21, had incurred a Rs 60,000 loss on online bets | Image via special arrangement\n<\/p>\n

Role of celebrity endorsements<\/p>\n

While Aditya was drawn into the dark world of online betting by targeted ads according to police and his family, 26-year-old Bandaru Venkatesh from Hyderabad acquired the habit through social media posts and videos by a YouTuber.<\/p>\n

Working as a helper at a restaurant and living in a flat in Kukatpally on the outskirts of one of India\u2019s shining big cities, Venkatesh had not had a lot of silver linings in his life. So, the opportunity to earn up to 150 percent of his money in a short time seemed lucrative\u2014even more so as it was being endorsed by a popular figure.<\/p>\n

He had stumbled upon an advertisement via reels and posts by one Harsha Sai, a YouTuber from Telangana with a subscriber base of more than 10.7 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBelieving his claims and unaware of the risks, I clicked the links in his Instagram stories and deposited money to play online games, expecting to earn a profit. Harsha Sai consistently associated himself with online gambling websites\u2014Parimatch, Lotus 365, and Battery\u2014portraying them as legitimate and legal platforms in India,\u201d says Venkatesh.<\/p>\n

Claiming unawareness of the larger scheme of things, he adds he made repeated deposits before going on to join a closed Telegram tips group called \u201cHarsha Sai Tips\u201d. Having started making bets somewhere in 2022, Venkatesh lost more than Rs 13.67 lakh over the course of a year and a half. He approached the police in December 2024.<\/p>\n

In his complaint to the police, he attached screenshots of the betting platforms promoted by Sai, as well as those of his fund transfer to the accounts provided. He sought that Sai\u2019s social media accounts be blocked, citing violation of government laws prohibiting betting.<\/p>\n

Sarma further points to the use of pop-up ads by betting platforms, featuring celebrities like Rana Daggubati and Prakash Raj (Jungleerummy.com), Vijay Devarakonda (A23), Manchu Lakshmi (www.yolo247.com), and Praneetha (www.faIrplay.live). In his complaint, he gave the police a list of 25 such actors endorsing betting websites on pop-ups, promotional videos, and so on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many more individuals promoting the gambling, betting & casino apps\/websites, which are targeted towards luring young adults and the general public into making easy money, but eventually lead them to complete financial breakdown,\u201d Sarma explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese platforms are actively promoting their apps\/websites through social media advertisements with the help of celebrities and influencers, thereby reaching the target audience automatically without even the users actually searching for it, which further exacerbates the problem.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The case was registered under 318(4) (cheating) and 112 (petty organised crime) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Section 3(A) (penalty for opening a common gaming house or online gaming) and 4 (penalty for being found gaming in a common gaming house) of the Telangana Gaming Act, and Section 66(D) (cheating by personation) of the IT Act.<\/p>\n

Based on his and Venkatesh\u2019s complaints and several other FIRs, the Enforcement Directorate booked around two dozen celebrities, including Devarakonda and Daggubati, in July 2025 for allegedly promoting betting applications. They were then summoned for questioning.<\/p>\n

Sources say money laundering investigation under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002, had been launched based on complaints against applications, such as JeetWin, Parimatch, Lotus365, Junglee Rummy and A23, as well as others suspected of involvement in large-scale money laundering.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe promoters of these betting websites divert the money from the primary firm\u2019s bank accounts, where it was deposited, into personal bank accounts or those of unrelated firms as part of a layering process, and for subsequent use for personal purposes,\u201d ED documented in its prosecution complaint.<\/p>\n

Sources in Telangana Police emphasise another aspect of the syndicates operating these businesses. \u201cMoney duped from people in the name of investment has been found to be diverted into the operations of betting. These funds are used for handing over the hefty winning amount that participants are initially allowed to win to lure them deeper into the games,\u201d a senior police officer tells ThePrint.<\/p>\n

(Edited by Mannat Chugh)<\/p>\n

Also Read: New online gaming rules give watchdog more teeth, steer clear from guard rails on promotion<\/a><\/p>\n

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