A chartered accountancy (CA) student named Shubham Bagthariya has recently gone missing after recording two videos in front of the Aji River in Rajkot claiming to commit suicide due to losses in online gambling.

Bagthariya (21) was reportedly working for a private company, handling all its banking transactions and was allegedly under massive debt after losing money in online gambling, according to The Times of India report.

The videos were sent to his father around 4:30pm on Thursday which included him saying, “This is the Aji River, and I’m jumping. Nobody is responsible for this”. Later in the video, he gave details of his debt and mentioned it was due to losses suffered in online gambling.

Bagthariya also mentioned that he was depressed and wanted to take his own life. Expressing his love for his parents, he asked them to learn to live without him. He also asked his father to sell his bike off in order to repay some portion of the debt.

His uncle, Bipin Bagthariya who lives in Morbi, told reporters that his brother saw the videos late at night as he does not use the internet much. “I rushed to Rajkot and went to Aji dam and found the place where the video was recorded and also found his bike and informed the police and fire brigade,” his uncle said.

The chief fire officer of Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC), IV Kher said, “The search continued for around eight hours, but we couldn’t find Bagthariya”. Meanwhile, the police are also looking at the angle of Bagthariya possibly fleeing somewhere in the garb of committing suicide.

The current whereabouts and condition of Bagthariya are unknown, but this incident also highlights how harmful online gambling can actually be for the youth. Suicide cases due to depression after losing money in online gambling are being reported from several states in recent times.