Sunil Agarwal owned a restaurant in Greater Noida.
The owner of a restaurant in Greater Noida near Delhi was shot dead on Tuesday night in a fight that started over a delay in an order. Three accused men were arrested today after an encounter with the police.
The man who was killed ran a restaurant inside an apartment complex called Mitra. Late on Tuesday, a delivery agent for online platform Swiggy reached the restaurant to collect an order of chicken biryani and poori sabzi. Three young men on a bike, who say they were driving around near the restaurant, stopped and approached the delivery agent, the police said. One of the bikers used to work with another food delivery service and had stopped to ask the Swiggy agent about a job.
When the Swiggy agent's order was delayed, he got into an argument with an employee. The three men, who were drunk, jumped into the fight and allegedly shot its owner, Sunil Agarwal, in the head, the police said.
A restaurant employee and other staff members rushed the man to a hospital, where he was declared dead.
"The staff called me to say their owner was shot. When I reached, he was still breathing. I first dialed 100 and then called for an ambulance. We finally took him to hospital in our car," said Rakesh Nagar, who lives near the restaurant.
The men escaped on their bike after the shooting. After going through CCTV footage, the police spread out to look for the suspects. This morning, the men were spotted in a lane near the restaurant. An encounter broke out and one of the suspects was shot in the leg. All three were arrested.
Initial reports had suggested the possible involvement of the Swiggy agent.
Swiggy said in a statement, "What has been reported is very concerning. We have reached out to the concerned authorities to help verify the identity of the individual involved in this heinous incident and if such a person was associated with Swiggy."
The online platform said all its delivery partners are on-boarded for providing delivery services after a background check for court cases or criminal antecedents.