CHENNAI: Five men including three employees of a food delivery service have been detained for inquiry for allegedly attacking a customer during a fistfight in Ashok Nagar on Sunday.
According to the police, R Balaji, 42, had ordered food via Swiggy on Sunday at around 8 PM. "Since the food delivery was delayed, Balaji raised a complaint with the Swiggy customer care. After about an hour, the delivery executive delivered the food. He got into a fight with Balaji due to the delay in delivery," said a police officer.
During the investigation, it was found that the delivery executive assigned for the order was D Rajesh Kanna, 20 a resident of Saligramam. "As he was unwell, he took his father Dhanasekaran, 52, along with him to deliver the order. However, Dhanasekaran claimed that the customer had not mentioned the exact location for delivery which led to the delay," added the officer.
Meanwhile, as the fight turned physical, Rajesh called up his colleagues who were reportedly available in the same locality. The other two reached Balaji's house and roughed him up. Following the incident, Balaji registered a complaint with the Ashok Nagar police station.
The detained have been identified as Dhanasekaran, Rajesh Kanna who joined Swiggy last month, I Sreenivasan, 19, a first-year student of Nandanam Arts College, Jaya Surya, 19, and P Mathiyalagan, 21. The latter two have been working as delivery agents for the last four months.
Balaji also claimed that he lost his ten-sovereign gold chain in the melee. The police are further investigating the case.
The Swiggy executive Rajesh also filed a counter-complaint against Balaji. All the Swiggy delivery men and Balaji were warned in the police station and later let off.
Swiggy said, "We are aware of this unfortunate incident in Chennai and have been in constant touch with all parties involved. While this issue has been closed by the investigating authorities with a warning given to both parties, we will continue to extend our full support for any further investigations."