Telangana farmer's son gambles away Rs 92 lakh

Hyderabad, Dec 21: A farmer lost Rs 92 lakh that he had received as compensation for the land acquired by the government as his son gambled away the money in an online casino. The shocking incident has come to light in Telangana's Rangareddy district near Hyderabad.

The family of Srinivas Reddy has been literally reduced to penury after his younger son lost the entire money while playing online games on his mobile phone.

Srinivas Reddy's 10 acres of land in Sitarampur of Shahbad mandal was recently acquired by the government for Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC). He received a compensation of Rs 1.05 crore at the rate of Rs 10.5 lakh per acre.

With this money, he wanted to buy half acre land at Mallapur in Shamshabad mandal on the outskirts of Hyderabad. He had entered into an agreement for Rs 70 lakh and paid Rs 20 lakh as advance. Out of the remaining Rs 85 lakh, Srinivas Reddy deposited Rs 42.5 lakh in his bank account and the remaining in the account of his wife Vijayalaxmi.

The couple's younger Harshvardhan Reddy, a first year degree student at Hyderabad's Nizam College, transferred the money from his father's account to his account and told him that he would pay it to the land owner. The 19-year-old told the same to her mother and made her withdraw the money from her account.

The youngster, who had become addicted to playing online games, started putting in the money in installments on online casinos. In a few weeks, he lost the entire money.

When his parents enquired about the money, he admitted to gambling it away. The couple and their elder son Sirpal Reddy, a B Tech student, were shell-shocked.

Harshvardhan Reddy also reportedly borrowed Rs 7 lakh from some people in the village for gambling.

Srinivas Reddy has approached cybercrime police of the Cyberabad police commissionerate with a request to help them in getting back the money, which was the only source of support to the family.