New Delhi, July 19 -- For nearly three years, an Army officer measured his days not by drills or field exercises, but by candlestick charts.

It began in 2022, when a college friend persuaded him to try futures and options (F&O) trading. The officer, who wished to remain anonymous, opened a trading account with Rs.10,000. YouTube videos turned chart patterns into seemingly simple rules. His first few trades earned him close to Rs.80,000 in profits.

Three years later, he was sitting on Rs.48 lakh in losses.

The losses accumulated slowly. A government salary of over Rs.1 lakh arrived every month, giving him the liquidity to keep trading. And every loss came with the belief that the next trade would recover what the previous one had wiped ...