Scratches were spotted on hands of 14 children at a government school in Dantewada (Representational)
Suspected cases of people taking part in the Blue Whale Challenge have been reported from different districts of Chhattisgarh and the police has launched an investigation into them, a top police official said today.
Additional District General of Police (ADG) R K Vij told PTI that a 24-year-old woman, a a government employee in Jashpur district , was found taking part in the deadly challenge. On finding scratches on her hand, the police stopped her from taking part in the challenge and offered her counselling, he said.
In Balod district, the principal of a private school approached the police after spotting injury marks on the hands of some 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, said District Collector Sourabh Kumar.
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 culminate in suicide. The game is believed to have originated in Russia.
Suicides triggered by the challenge have been reported from various parts of the country.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)