While acknowledging its benefits as an encouragement for players to exercise, Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) director-general Othman Mustapha said that viral application Pokemon Go shouldn't use places of worship as hotspots.

Othman who had tried the popular game application for himself said that he found Pokemon inside the compounds of mosques and suraus.

"In my opinion the game is good as it encourages society to exercise while playing, as it requires one to walk to find the characters, but there should be limits," national news agency Bernama quoted him as saying.

He said that in his view the application's developers were not sensitive to places of worship which should not have been used as arenas for the augmented reality game.

Othman added that it is not proper for people to frequent places of worship only to play the game, what more when it can lead to untoward incidents.

"We see overseas some players went into private areas like homes and restricted precincts, with some getting hurt and a few have died while playing the game," he was quoted to have said by the news agency further.

According to Bernama its own checks at Masjid Putra and Masjid Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin in Putrajaya found that both mosques have been designated as 'PokeStop' for players to pick up suplies like 'PokeBall'.

Both houses of worship are also designated as 'PokeGym', or arenas used for battles between Pokemons captured by players who have reached a certain level in the game.

Prior to this, Federal Territorries Mufti Zulkifli Mohamad al-Bakri said that the Pokemon Go game should be avoided by Muslims if it leads to bad outcomes.

Meanwhile chief secretary to the government Ali Hamsa said that authorities are still looking at the matter and have yet decided in whether to come up with a circular to civil servants, specific to the game.

However he reminded all civil servants that they are not allowed to play any online games during working hours.

Police chief, Khalid Abu Bakar was reported to have said that the augmented reality game will be blocked if it has elements of gambling or spying that may compromise national security.

While Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation official Lee Lam Thye have asked authorities to look into any ill-aspects that Pokemon Go may have from the viewpoint of security and social wellbeing.

In related news, an off-duty reporter was injured while engrossed with capturing a 'Charmender', one of the Pokemon that user can catch and train in the game.

The 25 year old reporter received a minor wound on his chin and bruises to his body, when he tried to catch the Pokemon while riding his motorcycle in a housing area.

He related that distracted by the game, one hand on the bike controls and one hand on his phone, he lost control of his bike when it hit a pothole, resulting in a crash.

The popular game was released in Malaysia last Saturday, Android dan iOS users can download the augmented reality game from Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

Developed by Niantic Incorporation of Nintendo USA, the game quickly became a global fad though its popularity and abilty to hold players in thrall has led to various complications, injuries and even loss of life.

First released on Jul 6 in Australia,New Zealand and the United States, it has now spread to over 30 countries world wide, causing a plethora of concerns in its wake.