A Flipkart delivery agent was allegedly murdered for an iPhone in Lucknow’s Chinhat police station area, police said on Tuesday. According to a report, the delivery agent’s body was stuffed in a gunny sack and dumped in a canal in Indira Nagar. Police detained a person accused for the crime.
DCP East Shashank Singh said on Tuesday that the deceased was identified as Bharat Kumar. He was the son of Ram Milan, a resident of Mahanagar, under Nishatganj police station area. He worked as a delivery agent.
“When Bharat Kumar didn’t return home, his brother lodged an FIR at Chinhat police station regarding his disappearance. Taking cognizance of the incident, the CCTV footage and surveillance data were investigated by the police,” police were quoted by news agency ANI as saying.
“After getting the evidence, the police detained a person named Akash in connection to the incident,” the DCP said.
Police further alleged that the body of the delivery agent was thrown into the river. They said the police and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team have been trying to rescue the body.
“Bharat Kumar’s family has also been informed about the incident,” police were quoted by ANI as saying. The police department is currently investigating the case.
What happened exactly?
Bharat Kumar had been working as a delivery agent for the past 8 years. The brother of the deceased Prem Kumar claimed that Bharat left home for delivery at 10:00 am to pick up goods. The arrested accused and others allegedly kidnapped and murdered him.
Police told news agency PTI that the 30-year-old delivery man had gone to deliver an iPhone to a customer who was supposed to pay him ₹1.5 lakh for the product.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Shashank Singh said Gajanan, from Chinhat, had ordered the iPhone worth about ₹1.5 lakh from an e-commerce platform and opted for COD (Cash on Delivery) payment option.
“On September 23, Lucknow man kills delivery agent. He went to deliver the phone at his place where he was killed by Gajanan and his accomplice. After strangulating Sahu, they put his body in a sack and disposed it off in the Indira Canal,” police told PTI.
When Sahu did not return home for two days, his family registered a missing persons complaint on September 25 at the Chinhat police station.
While scanning Sahu’s call details and trying to trace his location, police found Gajanan’s number and managed to reach his friend Akash.
During interrogation, Akash confessed to the crime, the DCP fficer said. The arrested accused confessed that he and his friend Gajanan had murdered delivery boy Bharat Kumar and then dumped his body in the canal, ANI reported.
Bharat’s brother Prem Kumar has sought justice for his death and demanded that strict punishment should be meted out to the accused.
“My only demand is that the police should give such a punishment that serves as a lesson to them,” he said.
(With inputs from agencies)