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Bengal CID saves engineering student from jaws of Blue Whale
A CID officer concealed his identity and befriended the student on social media and started chatting with him, eventually weaning him away from the lethal attraction.
A student of an engineering college in West Bengal was saved from the grip of Blue Whale by Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers, who counselled him, eventually weaning him away from the lethal online game.
According to CID sources, the registrar of B B Institute of Technology contacted a senior CID officer a few days ago and informed that the behaviour of a student of the institute has become suspicious.
Read: The 50 tasks of fatality: Is Blue Whale Challenge really killing youngsters in India?
“I was heading towards a blunder. Fortunately, I was stopped on my tracks. I thank the police officer who saved me posing as a cyber friend,” the student told the media.
This is the latest in a string of cases reported from across India of deaths or suicide attempts linked to the online game, first developed in Russia.
On August 13, a 15- year old student, Ankan Dey, committed suicide at Anandapur town in West Midnapore district. It was suspected he was prompted by the lethal online game to take his life.
Read: Parents can track whether their children are fishing for Blue Whale: Here’s how
The registrar of the engineering institute told the CID sleuth that he suspected the change in behaviour might be the effect of the online menace. The sleuths also learnt from the authorities that a tattoo of Blue Whale was imprinted on the hand of the student.
The cyber cell of CID responded immediately. An inspector of the cell befriended the student through a social networking site and starting talking to him without revealing his identity.
In course of conversation, the student confessed to the sleuth that he was already in level eight of the game and he had to slash his arm once. “The student also confessed that he was preparing to inflict more such wounds on his hands in the subsequent level,” a CID officer said.
Despite this confession, the CID team did not lose patience, or inform his parents. The inspector kept on chatting with the student and counselling him about the eventual fate of the game.
“Finally, our officers were able to convince him that this game is nothing but a death trap. After the student was convinced about its pernicious effect, his parents were informed. Now everyone is happy. They have thanked us for our effort,” the CID official said.
