Debt Burden Due To Online Gambling Probable Reason For Triple Deaths In Odisha’s Jharsuguda

Jharsuguda: Preliminary investigation by Jharsuguda police found that debt and huge financial loss in online betting could be reason behind the suspicious death of three members of a family in Odisha’s Jharsuguda.

Based on a missing complaint filed by one Ajit Ray, police began a search operation to find his brother Sujit Ray (37), sister-in-law Khusboo Ray (27) and their 12-year-old daughter Arpita who had left home in the afternoon and had not returned till late on Wednesday.

Police said the three were found with bullet injuries inside a car near Banipahada under Lakhanpur police limits in Brajarajnagar of Jharsuguda district. Police also recovered a country-made pistol, three bullets and a mobile phone from the vehicle which had its engine and air conditioner on. Sujit was on the driver’s seat while Khusboo and her daughter were found with cloth tied to their eyes.

A preliminary probe by the police has established that Sujit first killed his wife and daughter and then shot himself.

Sujit, who was an engineer by profession, was in huge debt. He had incurred huge financial losses in online betting and had taken money from different sources, police said.

“From mobile call records, we found that the man was involved in online gambling through different mobile apps. From one of the apps that was checked alone, he lost more than Rs 4.2 lakh. He had also taken loans from different places including private money lenders to place bets online,” Jharsuguda SP Smit Parmar told Hindustan Times.

The couple’s three-year-old younger daughter was at home during the incident.