A small-time businessman in West Bengal's Birbhum district has alleged that he was threatened with dire consequences for refusing to play the deadly 'Momo Challenge' game, police said on Tuesday.
The online game, featuring a grotesque image of a girl with her distorted face and bulging eyes, has made headway in several countries and is similar to last year's killer 'Blue Whale Challenge'. It has reportedly claimed two lives so far in the state.
In the complaint lodged yesterday, Abdul Kuddus said after he had turned down the invitation to take part in the online game, he received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number that revealed his bank account details.
Kuddus, who runs a mobile-repairing business at Kendradangal village in Suri, said he feared that details of his family and finance might have been compromised by hackers. The CID, meanwhile, said on Tuesday that it was probing the cases of alleged suicide blamed on the game and most of the messages received by people inviting them to play it were "fake".
There is no reason to panic or to connect the recently-reported suicide cases in West Bengal to 'Momo Challenge', Nishat Pervez, CID deputy inspector general (operations), told reporters.
