Chhattisgarh Police has launched a probe on Sunday into a number of cases suspected to be linked to the Blue Whale challenge in various districts of the state, a top official informed.
A 24-year-old woman, a Government employee in Jashpur district, was found taking part in the deadly challenge, Additional Director General of police R K Vij claimed.
On finding scratches on her hand, the police prevented her from taking part in the challenge and offered her counselling, he added.
In Balod district, the principal of a private school approached the police after spotting injury marks on the hands of some of the students.
The students told the police that they were not taking part in the challenge. The police, nevertheless, asked their parents to keep the kids under supervision.
Scratches were also spotted on the hands of 14 children at a Government school in Dantewada, District Collector Sourabh Kumar has said.
However, the children told the police that they were not playing the game, but had scratched their hands due to some superstition. None of these kids possessed mobile phones.
The Blue Whale Challenge involves completion of various tasks set by its ‘administrators’, some of them entailing self-injury, which culminates in suicide. The challenge is believed to have originated in Russia.
Suicides triggered by the challenge have been reported from various parts of the country and parents, school authorities and others in charge of children have been asked to monitor children’s activities on a priority basis because the incidents of Bluewhale games are on the rise. The need of the hour is to control it at any cost.