(With inputs from Md Asif in Burdwan and Amit Singh Deo in Purulia)

KOLKATA: Several new complaints of WhatsApp users receiving Momo Challenge invites were lodged across Bengal on Wednesday, prompting the police to issue a warning, saying these might be traps set by local gangs to access personal details to commit cyber crimes. On Wednesday, invites were received by people in Haridevpur in Kolkata and Bagnan an d Deulti in Howrah, and they were threatened with dire consequences if they refused to play.Police said complaints have also lodged in Burdwan’s Kalna, West Midnapore’s Goaltore, Paklastala in Bankura and Purulia . First-year student Shekhar Mukherjee, a resident of Bagnan’s Mellock, alleged that when he refused to play the game, he was warned that his father’s garment shop would be set on fire and that unless he shared his PIN and Aadhaar number, he would be branded a terrorist. The sender even knew the correct address of Mukherjee’s father’s shop.At least two other students of a Bagnan school — both from Class XI — said they received invites to play the game. When they refused, the sender sent them details of their residences and threatened them with dire consequences. Bagnan police said it looked like a case of personal enmity and the CID has been informed. In Purulia, the person who sent the Momo Challenge invite created an entire WhatsApp group and warned every member, mostly girls, not to leave the group as he was “watching”. In Goaltore, the victim’s family claimed that he had to be admitted in Midnapore Hospital due to “extreme shock” after receiving the invite.In their Facebook page video, Kolkata Police claimed the present attempts to send out such invites on social platforms might have ulterior motives like blackmail and cyber fraud.“There are three issues that we have kept in mind while preparing the video. Firstly, unlike the Blue Whale invites, these invites have no links that can be clicked. Secondly, there is an attempt to entice the person at the other end. Hence, the Momo display picture was changed to that of a young woman to make the Haridevpur youth, Subhajit Dului, continue chatting. Finally, the invites are in English, Bengali and even Hindi — which suggest that the senders have another aim. One of the invitees was even offered Rs 20,000 to play the game. These aspects are being probed,” an officer said.The cops have asked receivers not to save these numbers.