The Vijayanagar police in Bengaluru arrested a gym trainer, for murdering a Flipkart delivery man, allegedly for procuring a smartphone he could not afford.
On 9 December, 22-year-old Varun Kumar attacked Nanjundaswamy with an iron rod and a flower pot when the latter went to the gym to deliver a smartphone Varun had ordered the previous day.
After slitting 29-year-old Nanjundaswamy’s throat, Varun later hid the body in the basement of Allahabad bank building on Saraswati nagar, the same building where the gym is located.
Varun reportedly kept the phone – worth Rs 12,000 – that he had ordered and two other phones from the delivery man’s bag.
The incident came to light after Nanjundaswamy’s wife Lakshmi filed a missing person complaint at the Byatarayanapura police station after he failed to return home that day. Lakshmi was unable to contact Nanjundaswamy, as his mobile phone was switched off.
Police traced Nanjundaswamy back to where he had last gone for delivery and found his body in the basement of the building on 11 December.
Varun hadn’t opened the gym ever since the murder, which had also raised suspicion. He was arrested earlier this week and has reportedly confessed to the crime.
According to police sources, Varun had joined the gym only a few days back and had hatched the plan after his father – a mechanic – refused to pay for a smartphone.
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