Whether you have played PUBG (Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds) or not, you must have definitely heard about it in the news. Especially since police departments in two cities of Gujarat have prohibited residents from playing it. Rajkot police banned the online multiplayer battle game from March 9 to April 30 while Ahmedabad police did it from March 14 till the midnight of March 28.
The first arrests following the ban were made yesterday in Rajkot. 10 people were booked for playing PUBG in a public place indicating that the police is serious in implementing the ban.
According to the Times of India, six of these were arrested near Atmiya College, three near Galaxy Cinema and the last one near Neptune Tower. Most of them were college students. Cases have been filed against them and their mobile phones seized. SOG police inspector Rohit Raval revealed that,
“The accused were so engrossed in playing them that they could not even notice our team approaching them.”
Police Commissioner Manoj Agrawal told The Indian Express,
“But it is a bailable offence. People have been booked but there is nothing like arrest in it. In the procedure, they will be shown as immediately bailed out by police. The case will go to the courts and there will be a trial for not following the notification issued.”
The main aim is to prevent youngsters from getting addicted to the game at the cost of their studies. And also to prevent them from indulging in violent or unethical activities under its influence. But it still remains to be seen whether this goal can be achieved through a ban.