On the 11th of March, a delivery agent of the food-delivery app Zomato was booked and arrested for allegedly attacking a Bengaluru-based content creator and ‘Instagram influencer’ named Hitesha Chandranee. Bengaluru police had detained the delivery agent a day after Hitesha Chandranee had taken to Twitter to claim that she was attacked by the delivery executive after an argument over delayed delivery of food order. The delivery agent had made counter-allegations as well. Now, the founder of Zomato, Deepinder Goyal, has issued a statement in the ongoing fiasco.
Goyal took to Twitter to post a short, crisp statement regarding the ‘incident that happened in Bengaluru a few days ago’.
I want to chime in about the incident that happened in Bengaluru a few days ago. @zomato pic.twitter.com/8mM9prpMsx
— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) March 12, 2021
In his statement, Deepinder Goyal said, “Right from the get go, our topmost priority has been to get to the truth. Towards that, we are helping both Hitesha and Kamaraj (our delivery partner) with all the support they need while the investigation is pending. We are also assisting the police in whichever way asked”.
The statement further says that Zomato is in ‘constant touch with Hitesha’ and is also bearing her medical costs. The statement says that they are also helping her with the legal proceedings. The statement further says, “We are also in constant touch with Kamaraj, extending all possible support to make sure both sides of the story come to light and that due process is followed in the spirit of fairness”.
Goyal further informs that while the investigation is on, Zomato is ‘covering his earnings in the interim while there’s an active police investigation’. They are also covering his legal expenses pertaining to the case.
Clarifying that what he was about to say was just a statement of fact and not an opinion on the case, Deepinder Goyal said that Kamaraj, the delivery agent the Instagram celebrity accused, had a 4.75/5 rating, which is the highest, and has done over 5,000 deliveries for Zomato. He also added that he has been with the company for 26 months.
The fiasco so far: Instagram celebrity accuses Zomato delivery agent of assaulting her, Kamaraj said she hit herself and threw a chappal at her after refusing to pay
On Tuesday, a social media influencer named Hitesha Chandranee had shared a video on Instagram to allege that the delivery man attacked her after an argument over a delay in delivery of her food order.
Seen with a bloody injury on her nose, Hitesha claimed that a delivery man barged into her house and assaulted her after she questioned him over late delivery. The woman narrated that she had placed an order around 3:30 pm on March 9, which was supposed to be delivered by 4:30 pm, but she did not receive it on time. Hence, she called Zomato’s customer support and requested them to cancel the order or give her free delivery.
However, the delivery executive has refuted the allegations of Hitesha and said that she was the first to hit him with a slipper, and he had only tried to defend himself. Kamraj added that the accuser had hit herself with the door in the scuffle where she was trying to hit him with a slipped and he was defending himself.
Narrating his ordeal, Kamaraj said that as he reached Hitesha’s apartment door, he handed her the food and was expecting her to pay him, as she had opted for cash on delivery mode of payment. Kamaraj said that he immediately apologised since the delivery was delayed due to traffic and bad roads.
“However, she was very rude from the outset. She asked me, ‘Why are you late?’ I replied apologetically, as there were road blocks due to ongoing civic works, and there were traffic jams as well. But she kept on insisting that the order has to be delivered within 45-50 minutes. I am working on this job for more than two years, and this is the first time that I have had to go through this kind of ordeal,” said Kamaraj.
As per Kamaraj, Hitesha took the food but refused to pay for the order. She said she was talking with Zomato chat support. Fearing that he will lose money, he requested Hitesha to pay for the order.
“At this point, she called me a ‘slave’ and then she started shouting ‘What can you do?’ In the meantime, Zomato support told me that they had cancelled the order from their end based on her request, and I asked her to return the food, but she did not cooperate,” Kamaraj disclosed.
