HASSAN: A youth, who was desperate to own an iPhone, killed a 20-year-old courier boy from an e-commerce major, stashed the body in the bathroom for two days and then burnt it half a kilometre away from his house at Arasikere of Hassan district.
The accused, 24-year-old Hemanth Kunje, murdered the courier boy, Hemanth Naik, on February 7 when the latter went to deliver the phone, the police said.
Kunje was picked up when he was found moving around suspiciously at the KSRTC bus stand in Arasikere on Saturday night. He was later arrested as he was found in possession of Naik’s phone. He 'confessed' to the murder during the interrogation.
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On February 7, Naik from E-Kart went to deliver the iPhone to Kunje at his home at Lakshmipura. The accused invited Naik inside the house, and asked him to wait, while he went inside the kitchen to get a knife to open the parcel. Kunje came out with the knife and stabbed Naik in the chest and stomach.
Body lay in bathroom for two days
Kunje also strangulated Naik to ensure that he was dead, the police said. He then dragged the body to the bathroom and let it stay there for two days. As it started stinking, he shifted it to a vacant plot of land near his house and burnt it, the police said. Kunje was alone at home over the last few days as his mother had gone to his sister’s house in Belaguru in Chikkamagaluru district, the police said.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Thammiah said Kunje had booked the iPhone worth Rs 46,000 under the pseudonym Baby. “During the interrogation, Hemanth Kunje, a PU dropout, admitted that he murdered Hemanth Naik only for the Apple iPhone as he didn’t have a source of revenue to buy it. The accused allegedly hatched different plans to get his favourite gadget, but as he did not succeed, he decided to murder the courier boy. The half-burnt body of Naik has been recovered,” Thammaiah said.
Kunje, too, worked as a courier boy earlier at different agencies and had lost the jobs because of his habit of stealing parcels, the police said.
Naik was staying with his brother Manjunath, who is a labourer, at a slum in the town.