Telangana Cop Dies By Suicide; Family Alleges Loan App Recovery Agents Harassed Him

A 31-year-old Telangana police constable allegedly died by suicide at his family home in Harshaguda, Pahadishareef, on Monday, with his family alleging harassment by loan app recovery agents.

A 31-year-old Telangana police constable allegedly died by suicide at his family home in Harshaguda, Pahadishareef, on Monday, with his family claiming that harassment by loan app recovery agents had pushed him to take the extreme step. Police have registered a case of abetment of suicide against unidentified persons.

The deceased, Mudavath Srinivas, also known as Srinu, was posted with the Telangana Special Police (TGSP) Battalion in Kondapur. According to his family, he had developed an addiction to online cricket betting and allegedly lost more than Rs 20 lakh through it.

Pahadishareef police said Srinu had married around a year ago. He and his wife had been living in a rented house at Mansanpalle X Roads near Maheshwaram for the past six months, while also making frequent visits to his family home in Harshaguda.

According to Pahadishareef Inspector B Lakshmi Narayana Reddy, Srinu allegedly died by suicide after hanging himself from a ceiling fan at his family home on Monday morning.

Morphed Photos, Threatening Calls

In her complaint to the police, Srinu's 77-year-old mother, Mudavath Gori, said her youngest son, one of her six children, arrived at the family home around 11 am.

"Around 30 minutes later, my grandson Veeresh came to me saying that unidentified persons linked to online loan apps had called his aunt and father, threatening them to tell Srinu to repay the money borrowed by him,” Gori stated in her complaint.

When the family failed to reach Srinu over the phone, Veeresh went to check on him at his grandmother's request.

“As Srinu was not opening the room’s door, we broke the window glass and found him hanging from the ceiling fan,” Gori told police.

The family later checked Srinu's phone and discovered that he had taken another loan of Rs 40,000 through a mobile application.

They also alleged that the phone contained calls and messages from several foreign-origin numbers, along with morphed photographs of a relative. The messages reportedly demanded that Srinu repay the borrowed amount.

According to the complaint, Srinu had previously taken loans worth around Rs 10 lakh from multiple loan apps, which his family had repaid. After his marriage, he allegedly borrowed another Rs 10 lakh, which was cleared by his wife's family. His mother claimed that he had lost the money through online cricket betting.

The family suspects that persistent threats and harassment by loan app recovery agents contributed to his death.

“Family suspects that continued harassment from loan app recovery agents had pushed Srinu to end his life. On his mother’s complaint, we have registered a case under Sections 108 (Abetment of suicide), 351(2) (Criminal intimidation) and 352 (Intentional insult) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita,” the inspector said.

Police have registered a case against unknown persons and are investigating the allegations.