Lucknow man orders pricey smartphones via cash on delivery, kills delivery agent

A 30-year-old delivery agent was allegedly strangled in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow after being lured to a customer’s home to deliver smartphones worth around Rs 1 lakh, police said.
The victim, Bharat Prajapati, was killed on September 23 by the accused, identified as Gajanan, and his accomplice, Akash. The duo then disposed of his body in the Indira Canal, according to Deputy Commissioner of Police Shashank Singh.
The incident occurred after Sahu went to deliver the Google Pixel and Vivo phones, which were ordered by another accused, Himanshu Kanaujia, from Flipkart, to Kanaujia’s home in the city’s Chinhat area. Kanaujia had opted for the cash-on-delivery payment mode.
Prajapati’s family reported him missing on September 25 when he didn’t return home. Police launched an investigation and traced Gajanan’s number through Sahu’s call records.
During questioning, Gajanan’s friend, Akash, confessed to the crime, revealing that the two had planned to rob Sahu of the valuable smartphones. After luring Sahu to Kanaujia’s home, they attacked him and strangled him. They then stuffed his body into a sack and dumped it in the Indira Canal.
Police is searching for the body with the help of the State Disaster Response Force.
Kanaujia and Akash were arrested, but Gajanan remains at large. A manhunt is on to arrest him.
The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) is currently searching for Sahu’s body in the canal.
This isn’t the first time delivery workers have been targeted. In 2021, a food delivery worker was killed in Bengaluru during a robbery bid, and in 2022, a delivery agent in Noida was fatally stabbed by customers over a payment dispute.