Shortcuts never come easy in life and at times can land you in jail. For a computer professional based in Delhi, the tale is no different.

Twenty-five-year-old Bharat Nagpal thought betting on horses could be a lucrative idea to earn quick bucks and to reach newer heights.

Apart from doing hardware business from his house in Chawri Bazar, Nagpal indulged in gambling on horse racing for the past one year. With incurring losses, Nagpal even spent the money borrowed from his parents in betting, instead of buying computer equipments. Not able to handle the situation, Nagpal, stole a bike parked outside the race course near Prime Minister's official residence at 7, Race Course Road, and was consequently
arrested.

"On April 23, when Nagpal had come to the race course, he noticed a bike in the parking lot with its keys lying on the ground. Seeing no one near the spot, he fled away with the bike in order to sell it later," said a senior police officer.

"After receiving a complaint from the owner of the bike, Jagdish Kumar, a businessman in Uttam Nagar, we got to know that one man was trying sell a bike in the area. On a tip-off, we arrested Nagpal on April 27 outside the race course and recovered the bike from his possession," added the officer.

During interrogation, Nagpal revealed that he wanted to buy some equipment for his shop and for which he had even borrowed Rs 50,000 from his parents, but had lost it on gambling. He was afraid to tell this to his parents and decided to take the step to gain some money. Nagpal has a PG diploma in computer
hardware, said the police.