A 20-year-old man in Karnataka’s Hassan district allegedly killed a delivery executive, all because he couldn’t pay for an iPhone he had ordered when it was delivered by the victim on February 7, police said on Monday.
The accused, identified as Hemanth Dutt, is a resident of Arasikere town in the southern Karnataka district, said police. He works as a delivery executive and is booked under sections 302 (punishment for murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of Indian Penal Code (IPC), said police. Details of his workplace were not immediately known.
The victim, identified as 23-year-old Hemanth Naik, worked with retailer Flipkart and also lived in the same town.
“He killed the delivery executive because he could not pay for the iPhone that he ordered. This was a challenging case for us since we could not figure out the motive behind the incident. There was no enmity, fight or criminal background,” said Hassan superintendent of police (SP) Hariram Shankar, adding the accused confessed to the crime.
Dutt had ordered a used Iphone 14 from Flipkart with a cost of ₹46,000, which was to be paid on delivery. On February 7 at around 9.30am, Naik arrived at Dutt’s residence in Laxmipura in Arasikere town to deliver the iPhone. Dutt asked the delivery executive to open the box so he could check the phone before paying for it, the police said. Dutt then invited Naik inside his house, and asked him to wait, saying his friends will arrive soon with the money, they added.
Dutt then came out with a knife and stabbed Naik multiple times on his neck and chest, killing him on the spot, the police said. “While Naik was waiting, scrolling through Facebook and Instagram on his phone, the accused attacked him from behind by stabbing him,” Shankar said, adding the accused confessed to his crime.
Dutt used to live alone in a 2bhk house, police said.
“After killing Naik, the accused kept the body in a gunny bag inside the bathroom of his residence for three days,” added Shankar.
The SP also said the victim’s brother, Manjunath Naik, filed a missing complaint on February 8 and a probe was underway.
A second police officer said Naik had dropped out of college and went to Bengaluru to look for a job. But he returned to Arasikere and worked as a delivery agent. A second police officer said Naik had dropped out of college and went to Bengaluru, km away, to look for a job. But returned to Arasikere and worked as a delivery agent with Ekart Logistics, the logistics and supply chain arm of Flipkart.
On the night of February 10, Dutt decided to dispose of the body by burning it, said the SP. He carried the body on his two-wheeler to a railway station on the outskirts of the city, burnt it and disposed it. “He poured kerosene and petrol to burn the body,” the SP said, adding that the police had recovered CCTV footage of the accused trying to dispose the body.
Police said the body was recovered on February 11. “The murder took place on February 7. We found the body on February 11. The victim’s brother had already filed a missing complaint. So, we were trying to track him, but were not getting any leads till then. Once we found the body, we called the forensic team to collect evidence. We kept the body intact for over six hours till the team came to collect evidence. Then we called his family who identified him,” the SP said.
“Once we recognised him, we checked his criminal background. We thought this (murder) could be because of a woman he was in a relationship with, and her parents might have objected. The body was not professionally disposed. It was disposed on a railway track which is not a professional hiding place. It was hurriedly done,” the SP added.
The SP also said police later tracked Naik’s mobile location to Dutt’s residence. “Naik was supposed to deliver seven parcels that day. He delivered two parcels and then he went missing. Then we tracked Naik’s mobile phone and found that it was last located at Dutt’s residence. A team of police officers raided the accused’s house and found his mobile phone and four other parcels,” he said.
On Sunday, police arrested Dutt and he is in judicial custody. “We have clarity on the weapons used and the sequence of events. We have also recovered the victim’s mobile phone and other items he had with him for delivery on the day of the incident,” the SP said.
Arsikere is a small, quiet taluk in the Hassan district of Karnataka. It is the second largest city in the district, demographically.