A 40-year-old information technology professional died by suicide at his office building in Raidurgam, and police are investigating whether the loss of nearly ₹2 lakh in a cyber fraud contributed to his distress. Officers have been careful to stress that the precise cause has not yet been established and that the investigation remains open to other factors as well.
A Family’s Search Turns Into Tragedy
The deceased has been identified as Thiruveedi V. Avinash, a Kukatpally resident who had relocated to Hyderabad around two months ago with his wife and two children after taking up a new role at a leading IT company, having earlier worked in Bengaluru for several years.
On the evening of July 14, Avinash messaged his wife to say he was leaving for home. When he did not arrive and remained unreachable, his family grew anxious and eventually contacted his office, learning he had already left the premises. Around 8:30 p.m., they arrived at the building to search for him and found a crowd had gathered outside; Avinash was among those who had died at the scene.
Police took custody of the body, sent it for post-mortem examination, and registered a case of suspicious death under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. CCTV footage from the building has helped investigators piece together the sequence of events leading up to his death.
The Cyber Fraud Angle
Preliminary findings indicate Avinash had recently lost approximately ₹2 lakh to a cyber fraud and had filed a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. Investigators are now examining the details of that complaint, alongside his mobile phones, digital transactions and bank records, to understand the nature of the fraud and whether it had any bearing on his mental state in the days before his death. Family members and colleagues are being questioned about his recent behaviour and emotional wellbeing, and police say they are keeping all possible angles open until the evidence is fully examined.
A Recognised but Under-Discussed Risk
Cybercrime experts note that victims of online investment scams, fraudulent trading platforms, fake job offers, KYC-related fraud and digital payment scams often carry a psychological burden that can be as damaging as the financial loss itself, particularly when shame or a sense of personal failure keeps victims from talking about what happened. They stress that legal recourse, family support and professional counselling all matter in the aftermath of such fraud, not financial recovery alone.
Police have urged the public not to panic if they fall victim to cyber fraud, but to report it promptly to cybercrime authorities, cooperate with the investigation, and seek mental health support where needed. The case remains under investigation, and officers say a fuller picture of what led to Avinash’s death will emerge only once all evidence, including the fraud complaint and his digital records, has been thoroughly reviewed.
