A 24-year-old delivery executive, Sameer Hussain, died on October 20, more than two weeks after he was allegedly assaulted during a dispute over a torn Rs 10 note in East Delhi, prompting police to arrest two men and add an abetment of suicide charge to the case.
Police said Hussain had called the police control room at about 11.03 pm on October 4, alleging that two residents of East Vinod Nagar attacked him after he refused to accept the torn currency note as payment for a coffee delivery. He was admitted to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital on October 5 after allegedly consuming a poisonous substance and died on October 20.
The case was initially registered at Kalyanpuri police station on October 5. Following Hussain’s death, police added Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which relates to abetment of suicide, to the case.
The arrested men have been identified as Rakesh alias Bunti, 30, and Rampal Singh, 65. Police have not publicly established the final circumstances surrounding Hussain’s death beyond the details recorded in the case so far.
During the investigation, Hussain recorded a video describing his account of the incident. According to the report, he said he had gone to deliver coffee to an elderly customer who took 10 to 15 minutes to arrange payment. The customer then handed him cash that included a torn Rs 10 note.
Hussain alleged that he objected to accepting the damaged note and offered to cancel the order. He also questioned why the order had been placed if the payment could not be made properly. According to his account, the customer abused him before another man arrived and slapped him several times. Hussain also alleged that the man mocked his middle-class background.
The incident places attention on the street-level conditions in which delivery workers operate. These workers routinely enter residential buildings and interact directly with customers, while disputes over payment, order cancellation and acceptance of cash are handled at the doorstep rather than through a controlled commercial setting. In this case, the alleged disagreement over a small-denomination note escalated into a police case and the death of the worker weeks later.
The report does not indicate whether the delivery platform involved has issued a public statement or whether any internal safety protocol was activated after the October 4 incident. It also does not provide details of the exact medical findings or the next scheduled legal proceeding.
Police action now centres on the two arrests, the circumstances of the alleged assault and the evidence supporting the additional charge under Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Further proceedings will determine how the allegations are treated in the case.
