To avoid paying ₹1.5 lakh for an iPhone, a man from Lucknow allegedly killed the delivery executive of an e-commerce store on Sep 23 and dumped his body into a canal miles away from the crime scene to escape suspicion and arrest, police said.
The main accused, identified as Gajanan Sharma from Chinhat town in Lucknow, had ordered the iPhone using cash-on-delivery (COD) option from Walmart-owned Flipkart recently.
After the victim Bharat Kumar, 30, of Nishatganj went to deliver the phone, he was strangled by Gajanan and his friend Akash Sharma. Police have arrested Akash, and a manhunt is underway to nab Gajanan.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Shashank Singh was quoted as saying, "On Sep 23, delivery boy, Bharat Kumar went to deliver the phone at Gajanan’s place, where he was killed by Gajanan and his accomplice to avoid paying for the phone.”
“After strangulating Kumar, they put his body in a sack and disposed of it in the Indira Canal," he added. The victim’s family had lodged a missing report on Sep 25 after the victim didn't return home.
The police traced Kumar's last location through his phone. They interrogated the suspect Akash and he confessed to the crime, police said.
“We took cognizance of the CCTV footage and surveillance data was also investigated. After getting evidence, the police detained a suspect named Akash in connection to the crime and he confessed to the crime during interrogation," the DCP said.
Police have launched extensive searches to nab Gajanan, the officer said, adding, “Efforts are on to recover the delivery agent's body, which was stuffed in a gunny sack and dumped in a canal in Indira Nagar.”
Meanwhile, the victim’s brother Prem Kumar has sought justice for his death and demanded capital punishment for the accused.
“My only demand is that the culprits should be awarded capital punishment which serves as a deterrent to the potential criminals,” he said.
