Police in Jamshedpur have categorically refused to link the death of Class X DBMS English School student Fardeen Khan to the infamous Blue Whale Challenge amid speculation that the 16-year-old may have fallen victim to adrenaline-pumping game whose end task is suicide.

A resident of Block B in Dhatkidih, Fardeen went missing in the small hours of Sunday and his body, with injury marks on the head and face, was found floating in Beldih Lake near his home on Monday morning.

Family members continue to insist that the teenager was murdered, but police have not ruled out suicide. SSP Anoop T. Mathew on Wednesday said they were trying to figure out the trigger behind Fardeen's death wish. "But, the Blue Whale angle behind the death is irrelevant," he added.

Over the past two days, reports have appeared in a section of the media (excluding The Telegraph) linking the student's death with the game that has snuffed out over 100 young lives across the world, including a few in India.

Father Samsher Khan, who works with a steel manufacturing company in Qatar and has returned to the steel city after hearing the tragic news, said Fardeen had a laptop and a smartphone.

"Police have taken away the laptop after the media said my only son was playing the Blue Whale game. This is a case of murder. My son was killed and his body dumped in the lake. Why are police delaying probe on the pretext of suicide? They must track down the phone and find out who called him that night," Khan said.

Fardeen had apparently sneaked out of home between 3am and 4am on Sunday soon after receiving a call. Although some newspapers have reported that the teenager was fond of video games, it is not known if he was playing the suicide challenge.

The Blue Whale game involves a curator who gives a participant a task to complete daily for a period of 50 days. These tasks start off easy - such as listening to certain genres of music, waking up at odd hours, watching horror movies, among others - and then slowly escalate to carving out shapes on one's skin, self-mutilation and eventually suicide.

Khan, who lodged a murder FIR on Tuesday, said he did not know if his son played the challenge. Relatives called on city SP Prashant Anand on Wednesday and demanded a murder probe.

Uncle Anwar Ali said police had recovered a pair of earphones from his nephew's trouser pocket, but Fardeen's mobile phone was missing. "Police have not traced the phone. Fardeen has no reason to commit suicide. He was a good student."

Another uncle, Gulrez Khan, said the phone was the most vital clue. "Police must procure the call detail record and identify the last caller," he added.

How can teens be educated against self-harm games? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com