Telangana: Teen ends life after losing cricket bet

HYDERABAD: A 19-year-old construction worker, who allegedly lost money in a private T20 cricket bet, ended his life at his home in Shadnagar on Wednesday. Police registered a suspicious death case after his family alleged that the suicide was due to pressure to pay up the amount he lost in the bet.
Anugothu Prakash, from Giramgattu Thanda in Narlaguda Thanda of Shadnagar, was into tile work.
On Thursday morning, his family found him hanging from the ceiling fan in his bedroom. Police were informed about the suicide and the body was shifted to a local government hospital for postmortem.
"There was no suicide note, but Prakash's mother, Suvarna, alleged that he took his own life because of pressure to pay up," Shadnagar ACP Ch Kushalkar said.
During preliminary probe, police found that Prakash and his cousin Srinivas had bet among themselves on the outcome of the cricket match between Delhi and Punjab.
"Prakash reportedly had bet in favour of Punjab and lost. He was supposed to pay an amount ranging from 10,000 to 15,000 to Srinivas. In Prakash's mobile a phone conversation recording was found where another man was asking him to pay up the money. It was not clear how much he has to pay and for what reason," a cop said.
Subsequently, cops called Srinivas for questioning but he claimed innocence. The phone will now be sent to FSL for data extraction and analysis, cops aid.
"We have registered a suspicious death case under CrPC section 174. Based on the investigation, we may alter the sections if required," Shadnagar town inspector S Naveen Kumar said