HYDERABAD: In the quiet hours before dawn, Kaligota Akash cradled his five-month-old son, tears mingling with desperate whispers. “Call me daddy,” he pleaded, knowing the infant’s silence was a final, cruel reminder of the life he was leaving behind.
Hours later, the 22-year-old succumbed to poison, a victim not just of his despair but of an invisible predator: online betting apps. His story — a sole breadwinner drowning in debt and parents shattered by loss — presents the grim reality, where digital gambling’s allure has turned phones into weapons and dreams into obituaries.
A native of Akula Kondur village in Nizamabad district, Akash consumed pesticide on March 26 and succumbed to it on April 1, leaving behind his five-month-old son and elderly adoptive parents.
“We thought he was watching movies,” his father, Kaligota Gangaram, a daily wage labourer, murmured, his voice heavy with the grief of a truth discovered too late. To his generation, a phone was a harmless diversion. But for his son Akash, it became a portal to ruin: betting apps siphoning loans, hope and finally, life.
According to his father, Akash had become addicted to online betting and had taken loans to place bets. “On the day he consumed poison, he had lost `20,000,” Gangaram told TNIE. “We never knew there were games on the phone that could kill people. We only learnt the truth after he was hospitalised,” he added, breaking down.
Gangaram said Akash was their only child, adopted two decades ago. “I gave him the best education I could, even put him in an English-medium school. But now, we are left in unimaginable pain,” he said.
According to the complaint filed with the police, Akash had been betting through apps and dabbling in ‘colour trading’ for the past three years, losing a significant amount of borrowed money. Though a complaint was filed, Nizamabad police said they did not find betting apps on his phone or any suspicious transactions in his bank account. “We are still investigating,” a senior officer told TNIE.
Recent rise in cases
Akash’s death is not an isolated case. Despite the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) by the state government on March 30 to crack down on illegal online betting, at least three other similar suicides have been reported recently.
In one such case, 25-year-old Rajveer Singh allegedly died by suicide on April 5 after losing money to betting apps. His body was found on the railway tracks between Ammaguda and Sanathnagar. In another case, a 21-year-old BTech student, Bandla Pawan Kumar Reddy, died by suicide after allegedly losing money in online betting apps in Ramanthapur on April 13.
Many victims, driven by shame or fear, do not report their experiences to the police, making it difficult to assess the true scale of the crisis.
Another user, N Kotesh, told TNIE that he had lost over Rs 20,000 in online cricket and kabaddi betting between 2019 and 2020. “I took loans from friends and relatives. We even opened bank accounts in Noida branches because the apps didn’t accept Telangana accounts,” he said. “I lost everything — savings, peace, and pride. Now I work as a carpenter to repay my debts.”
Need for corrective action
Recently in the Assembly, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy vowed to take action against those promoting or profiting from online betting apps. “It’s not just about money — it’s about young lives being lost,” he had said.
The SIT has held two meetings so far and is reportedly working on a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to tackle such cases. A senior police official told TNIE that most cases have not been officially transferred to the SIT yet.
Meanwhile, promotional content for betting apps continues to circulate online, despite police action against several social media influencers and actors. Many are now promoting apps while wearing masks to conceal their identity. Some platforms are still using old promotional videos, including that of influencer Varshini, against whom the Miyapur police had registered a case earlier. A recent video of hers was found being used by a site, called ‘Play Govinda365’, on Instagram.
Cyberabad and Hyderabad police have registered multiple cases against influencers, but betting app promotions persist. TGSRTC MD VC Sajjanar has been raising awareness on social media, warning youngsters about the risks, but with limited impact so far.
Some betting apps reportedly operate under the guise of sports news platforms, such as ‘1xBat’ and ‘Parimatch News’ and possess foreign licences. “They get licences in Western countries and operate globally,” the senior police official said, adding there is a possibility of hawala transactions and liquid money changing hands unknowingly through these platforms.