Hyderabad: A 26-year-old youth died by suicide in Telangana’s Siddipet district after losing Rs 8 lakh in an online investment scam. Two Hyderabad IT professionals have been arrested.
According to police, the deceased, Badugu Harikrishna from Veluru village, had borrowed money from various quarters to invest in the controversial QNET network as well as online games, eventually losing around Rs 8 lakh in the scam.
Unable to bear the financial strain, Harikrishna reportedly wrote a suicide note and hanged himself at his residence.
Initially, police registered a suicide case. However, investigations led them to two IT professionals working in Cognizant, Gachibowli.
Police said that in July, Kalvala Manikantha Reddy, 23, and Uppalapu Alekhya, 25, persuaded Harikrishna to invest in QNET, assuring him of high profits.
To convince the victim, Reddy and Aklekhya spoke extensively about the scheme. The three met at a hotel located opposite to Tank Bund in Secunderabad, where Harikrishna allegedly paid Rs 4 lakh as a membership fee.
In return, he received a “Trip Saver” coupon valid for ten years and a wristwatch as part of the “business promotion.”
Over the period, Harikrishna attended multiple seminars in Hyderabad with the two accused who spoke about the business operated through Vihaan Direct Selling (India) Pvt. Ltd., an Indian associate of QNET.
Police said when Harikrishna stopped receiving benefits and profits on his investment, he suspected fraud, realising it was a pyramid-style money circulation scam.
On October 9, he hanged himself at his residence.
A case under abetment to suicide and illegal money circulation of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978, was registered. The two accused have been sent to judicial custody.
