A fabricated WhatsApp message, extensively circulated in Chennai, about a young woman robbing housewives on the pretext of being an LPG cylinder technician has now been taken up for probe by the cyber crime wing of the city police.
The police are likely to initiate action against the individuals who first translated the text and circulated the picture on the networking app.
The text, accompanied by the photograph of a woman with an ID card around her neck, said she was a con artist who attacked and robbed homemakers after gaining entry into houses pretending to be an LPG cylinder repair person.
The message went viral among city residents.
“The original message and photograph were traced to Maharashtra. The woman, an accounts executive attached to an IT firm in Thane, was found to be innocent. Some miscreants had fabricated a message that said she was a thief who cheated homemakers pretending to be a saree salesperson. The tale took a spin, and she was transformed into an LPG service attendant in Chennai,” said an investigating officer.
The woman later sought the help of the police to apprehend those who defamed her by spreading the hoax message, using a photograph lifted from her Facebook page.
Her brother lodged a complaint with the Thane police and its cyber wing is probing the matter.
The city cyber crime wing registered a case following interactions with their Thane counterparts on Friday.
