A delivery man in Bengaluru was murdered as the customer who ordered a phone did not have money to pay for it. 29-year-old Nanjunda Swamy's throat was slit, allegedly by a gym trainer named Varun Kumar



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A Flipkart delivery man in Bengaluru was murdered as the customer who ordered a phone did not have money to pay for it. 29-year-old Nanjunda Swamy’s throat was slit, allegedly by a gym trainer named K Varun Kumar (22), since he did not have Rs 11,999 to pay for the Redmi Note 3 he had ordered.

According to a report in Mumbai Mirror, the body of the victim was recovered from the lift shaft of a building in Vijayanagar, where he had gone to deliver the phone. Bengaluru cops told the paper that Varun needed a phone since all those in his gym had one. Apparently, he asked his mechanic father to give him one, but the latter did not have money.

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Varun then decided that he would get the phone by murdering the delivering agent, the Mirror report went on to add. According, on December 8, he ordered the phone online and mentioned the gym’s landline number while giving order details. On December 9, Swamy contacted Varun when he was near the building. He was then asked him to come to the second floor. The report further mentioned that Varun attempted to snatch the smartphone from Swamy, but the latter managed to run out of the gym. But, Varun hit Swamy’s head with a flower pot.

Another report in NDTV stated that the accused went on to attack the delivery boy with another pot that was in the passage. Due to the gravity of the attack, the victim fell unconscious, after which Varun slit his throat with a knife. Giving gruesome details cops told the paper that Varun saw Swamy bleed to death, and dumped the body in the lift shaft after 10 hours.

“After murdering the victim around 12.45 pm, the accused hid the body inside the gym as he had difficulties in shifting it. At the time of the incident, there was nobody in the gym. When a few customers came for the evening session, Varun sent them back giving after cooking up a story. Later in the night, after the bank on the first floor and a fruit stall in the basement had shut for the night, Varun shifted the body around 11 pm to the basement. He kept the body in the lift shaft and escaped,” an investigating officer told Mumbai Mirror.

The report further added that Varun escaped two smart phones as some other goods as well from the delivery boy’s bag. While he was using the Redmi phone, he gave an HTC mobile to his friend. After his son did not come back home for a couple of days, Swamy’s father registered a complaint with Byatarayanapura police. Not long after cops found his body in the lift shaft.

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“We spoke to the online portal where the victim worked. We got to know that he was missing after he went to deliver a smartphone to a customer in Vijayanagar and it was the same building where the body was found. We also got to know from the customers that Varun had not opened the gym since Friday. We suspected his involvement and arrested him from his residence on Tuesday,” the officer told Mirror.

Cops have booked Varun under IPC 302 (murder) and IPC 397 (robbery).

In it's official statement, Flipkart said, "We are deeply anguished by the loss of one of our delivery associates and are focused at the moment on extending all possible support to his family to help them cope with this tragedy. The Flipkart group values the safety and security of its staff above all else and makes no compromises in this regard. Our workplaces and premises are closely and continuously monitored in order to prevent any risk to their safety. In view of this disturbing incident, we have initiated a review and will strengthen our on-field safety measures."