Teen found dead at Kochi beach; police probe possible gaming addiction angle

Kochi: Police on Saturday said they were probing whether mobile phone gaming addiction was linked to the death of a 16-year-old boy found dead at a beach near here.

The deceased, Arjunkumar, was a native of Njarakkal.

Police said he left home on Thursday evening, saying he was going to play football at a turf ground, but later went missing. Based on a complaint filed by his mother, police registered a missing persons case and launched a search.

His body was found on Friday evening at Chappa Beach near Malipuram.

Police said the family had raised concerns about the teenager’s alleged addiction to mobile games and suspected a possible link to his death.

CCTV footage showed that Arjunkumar had walked alone towards the beach.

“The postmortem confirmed death due to drowning. His mobile phone has been recovered and will be sent for forensic examination to check for any gaming link,” Jayakrishnan S, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Munambam, said.

The body was handed over to relatives after the postmortem earlier in the day.