CHENNAI: Four men allegedly murdered their friend under suspicion of him stealing one of their phones. They were arrested on Saturday.

Sathish alias Sakthi (31) of Kodungaiyur worked as a well-digging labourer with Gandhi (47), Arul Kumaran (36), Gunasekaran (40), and Balu (47), all from Sithalapakkam near Tambaram. Arul Kumaran is Sakthi's brother-in-law. The group went for a swim in Madambakkam lake, and Sakthi stayed back on the lake bed with others' belongings.

When the group returned, they noticed Sakthi missing and so was Arul Kumaran's phone. They tried contacting Sakthi but to no avail. They finally found him on Friday evening at a Tasmac outlet in Krishna Nagar and confronted him. They took him back to the lake and Sakthi maintained that he had not taken the phone.

The four men then forced Sakthi into the lake and drowned him to death, the police said, adding that the group abandoned the body on the lake bed and fled. On Saturday morning, locals noticed the body and alerted the Selaiyur police. The body was sent to the Tambaram Government Hospital for post-mortem.

Based on the investigation, the Selaiyur police traced and arrested all four of them. Further investigation is in progress.