KENDRAPARA: A 37-year-old man of the district, who tried to carve an image of a whale on his left arm with a razor, was rescued by family members on Sunday. Police linked the incident to the deadly online game Blue Whale Challenge.
Sources said family members of Subrat Mallick of Mangalapur village within Nikirei police limits found the latter trying to cut his left arm with a razor and rushed him to the district headquarters hospital in Kendrapara.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the man is suffering from mental distress. “The doctors are counselling him about the deadly game. We have also instructed his family members to keep a close watch on Subrat. His condition is stable now,” said Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) Dr B C Sahoo.
Kendrapara SP Dayanidhi Gochayat said, “During investigation, the police came to know that Subrat was playing the Blue Whale game in his smartphone. He had completed 20 of the 50 tasks.” The smartphone has been seized by the police.
Subrat was previously working in Dubai as an electrician. He had returned to his native place six months back. Recently, his family members found him behaving abnormally in the house.
Further investigation into the incident is on, the SP added. Recently, DGP R P Sharma had directed all district police authorities to remove the deadly Blue Whale Challenge, which has claimed several lives of children in the country, from social media.
Student’s fake claim puts cops on toes
Berhampur: Hinjili police had to spend a sleepless night on Saturday over a fake claim of a student of playing the deadly Blue Whale game. At around midnight, police got a phone call that an engineering student of Ralaba village is under the influence of the online game.
The student, identified as Chandan Prasad Khuntia, had apparently posted a photo of a carved whale on his arm on Facebook and claimed that he had completed four stages of the deadly game. On being informed, the cops rushed to Chandan’s house and seized his mobile phone. The student was brought to Hinjili hospital for examination of his mental condition but the doctors declared him normal. Later, Chandan told police that he had jokingly posted the claim on social media. Police handed over Chandan to his parents with a warning. Chandan’s seized mobile phone has been to Bhubaneswar for further investigation.