Mysuru: In what could be termed as a case of mistaken identity, a man, who was allegedly sending lewd messages to a cell phone number thinking that it belonged to a girl, was in a embarrassing situation when he came to know that the cell phone number belonged to a man.

He then called the recipient and abused him besides demanding him to send back all the messages he had sent and later tracked down the recipient and assaulted him besides threatening to kill him when he failed to get the reply.

While the person who was sending the messages has been identified as Naveen Kumar, a resident of Mandi Mohalla, the recipient of the messages has been identified as Dharnesh, a resident of K.R. Mills Colony, who works in a lathe at Bannimantap here.

It is learnt that Naveen, who is said to be a money lender, was sending lewd text messages and photos to the cell phone number of Dharnesh since about eight months. When Dharnesh ignored the messages and did not reply back, Naveen is said to have started ssending abusivemessages.

Naveen is said to have called on Dharnesh’s cell phone number and asked about the girl, but when Dharnesh replied in negative, Naveen did not believe him and also called Dharnesh’s number from a public booth to check whether the number belonged to a girl or a boy.

When Naveen realised his mistake, he launched an effort to get back whatever he had sent as messages. When he did not receive any reply from Dharnesh, Naveen is said to have somehow tracked down Dharnesh and kept an eye on him.

On Feb.18 at about 3 pm, Naveen, who knew the route of Dharnesh, took five others with him and waylaid Dharnesh who was riding a scooter near Ramakrishna Vidyashala in Yadavagiri and abused him. Naveen then allegedly snatched the helmet of Dhranesh and assaulted him on the forehead causing injuries besides issuing death threat to Dharnesh if he did not send the messages back and fled from the spot. Dharnesh later lodged a complaint at V.V. Puram Police Station, where a case was booked against Naveen Kumar and his accomplices.

Meanwhile, V.V. Puram Inspector Suraj, speaking to SOM, said that a complaint has been registered after a Medico Legal Case (MLC) and added that a clear picture in this case would be known only after the arrest of Naveen as Dharnesh’s statements were not clear. He also said that both Naveen and Dharnesh were not the residents of V.V. Puram Police jurisdiction and added that they have registered a case and are investigating.