Shabad (Telangana): A farmer from the Rangareddy district of Telangana in Hyderabad lost a Rs 92 lakh which he got from the State Government for his land being acquired as his younger son gambled the entire amount away in an online casino. His younger son lost the amount while playing online gambling on his mobile phone.
The farmer Srinivas Reddy's 10 acres of land in Sitarampur of Shahbad mandal was recently acquired by the Telangana Government for the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC) and he received a compensation of Rs 1.05 crore at the rate of Rs 10.5 lakh per acre.
Reddy wanted to buy half acre land at Mallapur in Shamshabad mandal on the outskirts of Hyderabad. He also entered into an agreement for Rs 70 lakh and paid Rs 20 lakh as advance. As for the remaining Rs Rs 85 lakh, Srinivas Reddy deposited Rs 42.5 lakh in his bank account and the remaining in the account of his wife Vijayalaxmi.
However, their younger son Harshvardhan Reddy (19), a first-year degree student at Hyderabad's Nizam College convinced his father to let him transfer the amount to his account by telling him that he would pay it to the land owner. He told the same to his mother and convinced her to transfer the money to his account.
Addicted to online gaming, Harshvardhan started to use the money in gambling in instalments on online casinos and within a few weeks lost the entire amount. When asked by his parent about the money Harshvardhan admitted that he gambled it away leaving his parents in shock. He had also allegedly borrowed Rs 7 lakh from some people in the village for gambling.
Seeing no other option, Srinivas approached the Cybercrime Police of the Cyberabad police commissionerate urging them to help him get his money back, the only source of financial support for his family.
