CHILD'S VIRTUAL PLAY SPOOKS AUTHORITIES

A disturbing screenshot from a 14-year-old Navi Mumbai boy's gaming chatbox resulted in authorities issuing a terror alert in Mumbai last week, between September 26 and 28, investigations by Central agencies and the Maharashtra ATS have revealed.

- Minh Singh

Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials in New Delhi apparently intercepted a troubling screenshot showing images of arms and ammunition and discussions about the appropriate gloves and kit needed to handle weapons in preparation for a potential attack on religious sites and crowded places in Mumbai. It has now been revealed that the source of the images and messages was the boy's deep immersion in a Parallel Virtual Life gaming app.

The messages, blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, had triggered a massive security response. As gaming apps are increasingly being used as covert communication tools with messages being shared in code language, the investigators decided to act on it. Over 15,000 police personnel, including Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) teams and other security agencies, were deployed across Mumbai from September 26 to 28 to neutralise any potential threat.

The boy, a student, was reportedly conversing with another gamer from Slovakia, known as Nikolai on the platform. Slovakia is a landlocked country in Central Europe, bordered by Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic.