New Delhi: A Jammu and Kashmir student body on Wednesday asked Governor Satyapal Malik to immediately ban PlayerUnknown’s Battle Ground (PUBG) mobile game, describing it as a “spoiler of futures”.

In a letter to Governor Malik, J & K Students Association (JKSA) said addiction to PUBG was more dangerous than addiction to drugs.

“The game should have been banned immediately after the poor performance of students in 10th and 12th class Board examination but still we have not seen any action. This is a cause of concern as the game is spoiling future of scores of children in Jammu and Kashmir,” JKSA chairman Abrar Ahmad Bhat told media.

JKSA deputy chairman Raqif Makhdoomi also held the game responsible for poor performance of students in the current academic year at school and university examinations in the state.

“The addiction to this game has become more concerning than addiction to drugs as we get to see youngsters 24 hours on the mobile phones and playing the game and doing nothing else. We request the administration to immediately ban the game,” Makhdoomi said.

Citing its “addictive properties”, he said PUBG might be the most popular mobile game in the world but it was ruining lives of the youth, some of whom were losing mental balance because of unlimited time spent on playing the game.

“It is seen that the user finds it difficult to put the game down and deal with other things like living a real life. He neglects his health and other important things in life such as family, societal responsibilities, education etc,” Makhdoomi added.

Several cases of PUBG addiction have been reported in J & K, with the most recent dating back to less than a week ago, in which a fitness trainer was admitted to critical care unit of a hospital in Jammu.

The trainer was taken to the hospital after completing one of the rounds of PUBG. After 10 days of constantly playing the game, he became violent and started hitting himself with blows.

“The trainer has apparently lost his mental balance. He just cannot get over the PUBG game. He is imagining himself in the battlefield. He was admitted to the hospital after he started hallucinating and injured himself. At the moment, we can say that he has partially lost his mental balance but there are chances that he may recover,” the hospital administration said in a statement last week.

The hospital further added that even though the patient was recognising people, his mind was not very conscious and still under the influence of PUBG.

Earlier, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences reported several cases of addiction to PUBG in Bengaluru.

So much so that last week, some private schools in Bengaluru warned parents about the ill-effects of playing the game for hours at a stretch.

Developed by Tencent Holdings Limited, PUBG Mobile on Android and iOS is one of the most popular games in India right now. With regular updates and new features, the player base for the game is constantly increasing.