After teen’s death, Fadnavis concerned over ‘The Blue Whale’ influence

Mumbai, Aug 1 (IANS) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday expressed concern over the impact of the Internet game, ‘The Blue Whale’ which reportedly claimed the life of a teenager in Mumbai three days ago.

Responding to the grave apprehensions expressed by Shiv Sena legislator Neelam Gorhe over the fatal game, Fadnavis said he would bring the concerns to the notice of the Centre.

“This game, The Blue Whale game is extremely dangerous and has been a cause of worry for everyone. The issue would be conveyed to the Centre,” Fadnavis assured in the legislature.

The matter came up after a 14-year old schoolboy Manpreet Singh Sahani allegedly walked off the fifth floor of his building in Shere-e-Punjab Colony in Andheri east on July 30 evening.

Prior to his death leap, the Class 9 student texted a friend of his intentions: “I am going to the building to jump”, and before anybody could rush to help him, he had already jumped off.

His friends claim that he was playing the 50-day ‘dare challenge’ of The Blue Whale and when he spoke of not attending school anymore and about the suicide, most dismissed it lightly.

Though the Mumbai Police have said officially there is no evidence to link his death to the game, they have seized Manpreet’s laptop, mobiles and other gadgets for further investigations.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Meghwadi Division) Milind Khetle told mediapersons that they would probe all possible angles, seek help of cyber and psychiatric experts during the investigations before concluding whether the case was a suicide or a complaint should be lodged.

‘The Blue Whale’ reportedly created by a former convict in Russia, allegedly psychologically stimulates the players to indulge in daring, self-destruction tasks for 50 days before finally taking the ‘winning’ step of killing themselves, and each task must be filmed and shared as ‘proof’.