In a shocking case, a debt-ridden village assistant named Lijo burned down the local Federal Bank branch at Thekkumkara in Thrissur district on Saturday. It is learnt that Lijo was unable to repay the loan taken from the bank as he used the amount to play online rummy.

Lijo entered the bank branch with a can of petrol and started pouring it all over the place, asking the employees not to panic. The assistant manager of the bank, K Anand, attempted to stop Lijo but was himself drenched with the fuel.

According to Keralakaumudi, there were two female employees out of a total of five at the branch when the incident occurred. Despite the security officers’ efforts, Lijo was able to start the fire and escape. After setting the bank alight, Lijo ran towards Kuttiyankavu region where some locals were able to subdue him, subsequently handing him over to the police.

During the interrogation Lijo revealed that he is burdened with a massive amount of debt, harming his personal life. He also revealed that the attempt to burn down the bank was spontaneous, involving no planning.

He further said that he lost Rs 4 lakh that he borrowed from the bank. The interest amount on it has spiralled up as well. A major portion of the borrowed money was lost in online rummy.

It appears that online rummy addiction is causing financial distress for some players in the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The former recently banned all kinds of online gaming involving money after several suicide cases started surfacing.

A legal battle between the TN government and the online gaming companies is ongoing. The Madras High Court has given the state government time till June 30 to respond the pleas challenging the ban.