Wanaparthy: Jetti Yadaiah, a shepherd from Manajipet village of Khilla Ghanpur mandal in the district, discovered pictures of his own, and two of his friends, on one of the WhatsApp groups two months ago.

The pictures were attached with a voice note, cautioning people against the trio in the picture. It said the three were travelling from one village to another to kidnap children and later kill them. At first, the three thought it was a joke. But, after the message went viral, Yadaiah was frightened. "I realised that the message had spread to local groups in our village. I made several calls and found out who put the messages. When I confronted and asked him to admit to his mistake in public, he refused to do so," he said.

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According to reports, the accused was a minor, who later confessed to forwarding the message as a joke. Last week, the Shepherd approached the cops and filed a complaint. Investigation began soon after a case was registered under Section 504 of the Indian Penal Code, relevant sections of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1932 and the Information Technology Act 2000.

Yadaiah said he was too scared to venture fearing repercussions of the rumours which had gone viral. The message was forwarded by two boys from his village, Khilla Ghanpur Sub-Inspector Vijay Kumar said.

The police summoned the boys, who confessed to sending the messages to five people. Later, they announced over media that the message in circulation was fake, and requested people to delete it.