Things are not looking good for the online multiplayer mobile game PUBG as according to a report by First Post, the Rajkot police has written to Google asking the game to be removed from the Google PlayStore restricting Android users from downloading the game on their smartphones.
The police is yet to receive an official reply from the company.
In March the Rajkot police commissioner had imposed a ban on the game in the district which was later lifted.
PUBG plays host to almost 120 million users in India and is one of the most downloaded mobile games.
Apart from being a popular multiplayer game it has also attracted a lot of criticism from multiple stakeholders like parents, educational institutions and even the government for promoting violence and also becoming an addiction for many.
We have said we have banned this, so if possible, if in any IP of this area they are downloading the game then we have said, stop it if you can.Manoj Agarwal, Police Commissioner, Rajkot to The First Post
The letter to Google was written last month itself shortly after the ban first came into effect.
Post the ban, 10 people were arrested for playing the game, six of whom were undergraduate students, under IPC section 188 (disobeying a government order) after being caught playing it in public.
Apart from Rajkot, other Indian districts like Bhavnagar and some parts of Gir Somnath also called for the ban of the game citing it to be “addictive” and harmful for children.
The ban on the game wasn’t welcomed by many people. The Internet Freedom Foundation challenged the ban by filing a PIL which the Gujarat high court had dismissed.
The game is also said to hinder the education process. The idea though seems to be far fetched as there is no proof to this argument and there are many other online multiplayer games, which are much more violent than PUBG.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)