Cuttack college student in Blue Whale grip? Police alerted after friend posts on social media
BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Police was alerted about alleged participation of a Cuttack-based college student in the deadly Blue Whale Challenge after a Kanpur-based youth posted the matter on social media on Monday evening.
Commissionerate Police took up the matter and alerted the Crime Branch. Sources said the cops have traced the student and are trying to ascertain veracity of the incident.
Vishal Srivastav, an engineer who writes for a news website, received information from a friend that a youth hailing from Keonjhar and studying in Cuttack had entered the 29th stage of Blue Whale Challenge. The matter came to light when his friend was chatting with the student on Whatsapp and the latter revealed that he is into the game.
Vishal tweeted the matter to draw attention of Odisha Police and even apprised Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad's office. He also shared screenshots of the chats between his friend and the game participant.
The Blue Whale Challenge is a morbid social media game targeting vulnerable youngsters and pushing them to inflict self-harm and ultimately suicide. The challenge involves 50 tasks given by an administrator and has to be completed one by one. The game was launched in Russia in 2013 and its inventor is currently behind the bars.