CUTTACK: The killer Momo challenge online game is suspected to have driven a 24-year-old youth Umakant Behera to commit suicide at Umara village under Mahanga police station in Cuttack district on Wednesday.
The body of the youth was found hanging inside an under-construction club (community centre) at the village in the morning.Police swung into action after the deceased’s father, Alekh Chandra Behera, lodged a complaint alleging that the killer game might have prompted his son to take the extreme step.
“The Momo challenge angle is being investigated as the deceased’s father has pointed towards the deadly online game. He stated that Umakanta had downloaded the Momo challenge app on his mobile phone”, SP, Cuttack (Rural) Madhab Chandra Sahoo said.
The SP said the deceased’s smart phone has been seized and sent to the State Forensic Laboratory for examination. “It is too early to conclude that the youth fell prey to the Momo challenge online game. We are verifying all possible angles in connection with the suicide. The Cyber Crime cell and forensic personnel are on the job to ascertain whether Umakant had played the game on his phone”, Sahoo said.
Umakant, who was working as a security guard at a private company in Chennai, had returned home in March. His father has informed the police that he used to remain absentminded and did not interact with the family members, the SP added.Meanwhile, Mahanga police has registered a case of unnatural death in this connection and sent the body for post mortem.