Kin say he was under pressure to pay Rs 10 L lost in online game

A day after the body of a 23-year-old man was found from Narmada canal in Tharad taluka of Banaskantha, the victim’s family on Thursday alleged that he was under pressure to pay Rs 10 lakh which he had lost in a bet in online Ludo game.

According to police, the victim has been identified as Piyush Thakkar (23), a resident of Ambeshwar society in Bhabhar Taluka of Banaskantha.

According to Thakkar’s family members, he had gone missing since Monday morning after he went outside his house on his motorcycle. A missing person complaint was lodged at Bhabhar police station on Monday evening itself, police said. On Wednesday afternoon, locals spotted a body floating in the Narmada canal and teams of police and fire safety department was called in to recover the body.

The victim’s motorcycle was also found near the bridge. Prima facie, police said that they are treating it as a case of suicide even as no note was found from the spot.

“We had found Rs 3,500 in cash from the victim’s wallet but no note was found. We sent the body for post mortem and an accidental death report has been filed as of now,” said a police officer at Tharad police station.

However the family members of Thakkar have alleged that he was under enormous pressure for the past few weeks over an impending payment of Rs 10 lakh which he had allegedly lost in an android application-based online Ludo game.

“For the past two and a half months, my brother was under pressure to pay Rs 10 lakh which he had lost in Ludo game. We had paid already Rs 6 lakh to a group of persons from Patan and Bhabhar. However Rs 4 lakh was pending. We suspect that these people have killed my brother or forced him to end his life,” said Sanjay Thakkar, elder brother of the victim in his complaint to the police.

Speaking to The Indian Express, PL Ahir, incharge officer of Bhabhar PS said, “We had first lodged a missing person complaint. When the body was found, we seized the victim’s phone for investigation but have not found any leads that he was betting in a Ludo game. His brother has alleged that a group from Patan has been involved in the betting racket and we are probing this.”