Jakarta: A Frenchman caught trespassing on a military base in Indonesia has confessed he was playing the wildly popular smartphone game Pokemon Go when he accidently strayed off course, police said.

27-year-old Romain Pierre was trying to catch virtual ‘pocket monsters’ during an evening run when he wandered onto the high-security compound, West Java police spokesman Yusri Yunus told AFP.

‘He said he was hunting for Pokemons,’ Yunus said, referring to the digital creatures that gamers capture and train for online battles.

The Frenchman, on business in the port city of Cirebon, tried to run away when confronted, Yunus added. He was detained for several hours for questioning before being released in the early hours of Tuesday.

A local military spokesman urged the public to be vigilant, suggesting Pokemon Go could be used as a front for criminal activity.

‘It’s possible there could be many strangers trying to enter private property to commit crimes, but then pretend to be hunting Pokemons,’ Mokhamad Desy Ariyanto told AFP.

Since its launch two weeks ago, Pokemon Go has sparked a worldwide frenzy among users who have taken to the streets with their smartphones.

The game for mobile gadgets — which overlays cartoon monsters on real-world settings — has already been blamed for a wave of crimes, traffic violations and complaints in cities around the globe.