'Blue Whale' is a controversial Internet game in which a series of tasks, mostly brutal, are given to players for a period of 50 days by the administrators with a final challenge requiring them to commit suicide. The player is asked to share photos after finishing the different levels of the game. The game is spread via links on social media platforms.
"We appeal to parents, teachers, students and all concerned individuals to keep a close watch on all those who may be showing abnormal and erratic behaviour because they may be playing online games such as the Blue Whale Challenge," the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) said in a press statement.
The move comes after the government asked Internet majors like Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Microsoft and Yahoo to "immediately remove" links of the deadly game from their platforms.
Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi had also written to Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Prasad requesting that the challenge be "removed" from the Internet.
The NCPCR said it has also written to the IT ministry thrice since May asking it to identify violators.