Following the rescue of an engineering student hooked to suicidal online game of Blue Whale challenge here on Tuesday, DGP RP Sharma issued advisories to parents and teachers on Wednesday. He also notified a set of guidelines to be observed by the field-level police officers to tackle the menace.
Dr Sharma issued the advisories and guidelines after a review meeting with the State Crime Branch police in order to curb the menace and refraining students from playing such unrealistic games. Apart from the Blue Whale challenge game, students are also attracted to some other such lethal online games.
Notably, a final year engineering student was rescued by the Commisinerate police here on Tuesday after it was ascertained that the 22-year-old boy from Keonjhar was hooked to the deadly game for over a month. Perturbed over the development, the DGP held the high-level meeting and issued the advisories.
Asking the field police officers to immediately respond to the reports and incidents associated with the suicidal online game, the DGP also asked them to take immediate steps to identify the links and phone applications facilitating such games. “The matter should also be brought to the notice of the crime branch police to remove such facilities immediately,” said the guidelines issued to the police.
Similarly, parents and teachers have been advised to keep an eye on the falling grades and social behavior of the students. The advisory also spells out the symptoms among the students hooked to this game saying that keep a watch if anyone has stopped interacting with family and friends, often talks about running away from home or school, signs of depression, spending too much time on phone, beginning to look sad and prefers loneliness.