CHENNAI: A 27-year -old robbery and murder case accused was caught by police, after he replaced the WhatsApp display picture with his photo on a stolen phone on Monday.
Police said, P Babu of Orikkai along with his friends had allegedly murdered Imayam Ravi, leader of the Kancheepuram Vijay Makkal Iyakkam, and took away his phone before disposing the body near Palar river.
After the incident, Babu had reportedly changed the WhatsApp dp on the stolen instrument which helped police track him.
On January 12, police received a complaint from the village administrative officer about an unidentified body on the Palar river banks. Based on the complaint, police identified the body as that of Imayam Ravi of Guduvancherry.
Police said that on January 11 Ravi had gone to his relative’s house at Chromepet and later left for Kancheepuram. His whereabouts were not known thereafter.
Investigation revealed that Ravi had boarded a share auto driven by a juvenile and was carrying two passengers - Seenu (26) and Babu.
“Ravi wanted to reach Kancheepuram bus stop and the auto driver was heading in wrong direction, but he convinced Ravi that he was on the way to drop other passengers,” a police official said.
However, this led to an argument and the trio allegedly killed Ravi and disposed his body on the river banks and escaped with his mobile phone and `250.
“Later Babu disposed the sim card from the phone, but changed the WhatsApp display picture when he was caught,” the official said.