Missing teenager in the jaws of Blue Whale?

Chandigarh: A

teenager

missing since September 22 was in touch with Panchkula boy Karan Thakur who committed

suicide

after allegedly playing Blue Whale Challenge and had drawn pictures of people hanging and cutting their veins with knife, prompting the police to probe whether he was playing the notorious online game.

Kulchief Goraya, 17, a commerce student in a private school, was living with his sister in a rented accommodation in Sector 40 since April. Kulchief’s sister Ranjiva told TOI that her brother left the house saying he was going for tuitions in Sector 36. “He took a cab. I realised later that he had gone with his luggage,” said Ranjiva, who is preparing for civil services examination. The two hail from Hoshiarpur in Punjab.

When Kulchief did not return, she called him on his mobile but his phone was switched off. She lodged a missing person’s complaint at the Sector 39 police station.

Later, Ranjiva found a drawing in which he depicted suicide by hanging and cutting veins with knife. She also found some dates written on the back page of his notebooks. She said Kulchief had told one of his classmates that he would soon be going very far away from this city. She said his behaviour had changed in the last few months. He had set passwords on every application on his mobile phone to deny access to others.

Police have registered a case of abduction against unknown persons, but are investigating the Blue Whale angle, said Raj Kumar, the investigating officer.

A family member of Karan Thakur said he was in contact with two other boys of Chandigarh playing the game. Karan got the task of contacting other boys playing Blue Whale. One of them was Kulchief, said the family member. The other boy was a classmate of Kulchief. He was safe in his hometown, Khanna, in Punjab.

Manjeet Singh Goraya, father of Kulchief, said he was brilliant in studies. “We tried to trace him but did not get any clue. Kulchief was athletic and an introvert. He was very attached to his elder sister and shared everything with her,” said Manjeet.

Police said they contacted the cab driver Kulchief had hired. He told the police that he dropped the boy at the Mohali railway station. Police said the last location of Kulchief’s mobile phone was found to be the same.

Photographs of the missing boy have already been circulated near bus stands, railway stations and temples and police stations of the Tricity.

BOX

Locked all apps, behaviour changed

Sister of the missing boy said his behaviour had changed in last few months

Had locked all applications on his mobile phone with passwords

Boy had told his classmate that he will be going far away from the city

Last location of his mobile phone was found to be Mohali railway station

Sister said his brother was very good in drawings

Boy had left his house by saying that he was going for tuitions