COIMBATORE: A 35-year-old man from Pollachi allegedly died by suicide after losing money in betting on Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches and online rummy. The deceased, identified as Sabanayagam from Kilavanpudur village near Anaimalai in Pollachi was found dead in a private lodge near Gandhipuram on Saturday morning. He was a car dealer and addicted to online gambling.
For the last few days, he was staying at his sister's residence in Saravanampatti in the city. He visited the private lodge on the seventh street extension at Gandhipuram area on Friday at 2.10 am and took a room for a day. On Saturday morning as he failed to approach hotel staff for checkout, they went to his room and found the room was locked from the inside. As there was no response despite knocking several times, they opened the room using the spare key and found him dead. On information, Rathinapuri police visited the spot and sent the body to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) for postmortem.
The preliminary investigation revealed that he had borrowed money from several people and lost them in online gambling and in betting. It was said that he was facing a debt burden of around Rs 90 lakhs and amid this crisis, he continued the practice. After the moneylenders started questioning him, he moved to Saravanampatti. However he continued to invest money in gambling, said a senior police officer.
The investigation to verify the exact amount that he had lost in such gambling and the money he had borrowed from others is underway. Also, we are investigating whether he had any other issues to take such an extreme step, the officer added.
To overcome suicidal thoughts, contact the health department's helpline 104 or the Vidiyal helpline run by Coimbatore police at 0422-2300999.