Greater Noida: Sumit Singh, the 23-year-old delivery executive from Blinkit who was arrested last week for allegedly attempting to rape a customer in a Greater Noida high-rise apartment, has a “criminal record”, a ‘history-sheeter’ brother, and was hired via a third party, ThePrint has learnt.
How he slipped through the “thorough background verifications” conducted by a popular instant home delivery service is a scary question in times when we summon delivery partners to our doorsteps almost daily, even at odd hours, to drop off items ranging from gift hampers to groceries to the humble toothbrush — a feat far more convenient than having to go to a store.
According to a senior officer in the Noida Police, Blinkit had hired Sumit Singh via outsourcing in April. In 2019, he was booked in a case of sale and purchase of illicit liquor in Noida, and his elder brother has 19 cases lodged against him. Bisrakh police officers could not immediately confirm whether Singh was arrested in the liquor case.
Central Noida Assistant Commissioner of Police Ramesh Chandra Pandey said, “We have asked Blinkit for a response. Investigation is on.”
As the 27 October incident made headlines, the reactions on social media were largely that of shock and fear. This case come nine years after a 25-year-old woman was raped by an Uber driver in 2014. A trial court had convicted and sentenced him to life in prison a year later, and the sentence was upheld by the Delhi High Court in 2018.
In the Greater Noida case, the 19-year-old survivor was alone in the apartment at the time of the alleged sexual assault. Today, almost every housing society has multiple security guards at its gates, and a delivery is almost always preceded by a verification call or an alert on the community security app — something that may put the mind at ease about receiving those last-minute groceries in late hours, even when one is home alone.
This latest case poses key questions — what background checks do service aggregators conduct before hiring delivery agents, what action do they take if an agent commits a crime or a customer flags a safety concern, and what measures can residential societies take to prevent such crimes?
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Eligibility and background checks
ThePrint sent across a list of questions to Blinkit’s corporate communications wing via email about what background checks were conducted on the accused, what procedures the company follows while hiring delivery agents, and how the company addresses safety and security issues raised by customers.
Blinkit’s response was: “We conduct thorough background verifications while onboarding delivery partners and have a zero-tolerance policy. The concerned delivery partner’s ID has been terminated and details are handed over to the officials. We have been in touch with the authorities to cooperate with the investigation.”
A corporate communications representative of the company, while speaking to ThePrint over phone, further explained that Blinkit had conducted a background check on Sumit Singh and that this is standard procedure for all partners. When a consumer raises a concern, and the company finds that a delivery partner has violated the code of conduct, the services of that individual are immediately terminated. Queries about Singh’s past criminal case were not addressed by Blinkit.
On the Blinkit website, eligibility requirements for hiring of delivery partners are — aged 18 years or above, owner of a two-wheeler, Android phone with internet connection, valid driving license, registration certificate (RC), insurance certificate, PAN card, address proof and active bank account.
ThePrint also reached Zepto, Dunzo and Swiggy (Instamart) via email to understand their requirements for delivery partners. The copy will be updated if and when their responses are received.
According to Dunzo’s official website, delivery agents are required to have “high standards of professionalism, service and courtesy”. The terms and conditions state that partners have to acknowledge and agree that they may be “subject to certain background, driving record, address verification, judicial checks from time to time”.
Blinkit delivery agent ‘threatened her with kitchen knife’
The survivor in the Greater Noida case, a college student, was at her sister’s fiancé’s residence when she ordered bread and eggs from the Blinkit app on 27 October morning. After collecting the order, she went inside to keep the items, and on returning, found that accused Sumit Singh had entered the house, police sources said.
He then pounced on her, threatened her with a kitchen knife, thrashed her, pinned her down, attempted to rape her, and fled from the spot, police sources further said.
Singh was arrested Sunday from Khairpur but allegedly fired at the Noida police team after snatching an inspector’s revolver while being taken to Bishrakh police station. He then fled to the roadside jungles and when the police team surrounded him, fired four shots before being overpowered. He was shot in the leg, and is now in Greater Noida’s Kasna Jail.
Police sources confirmed that Singh wasn’t intoxicated or under the influence of drugs at the time of the alleged sexual assault.
Society security
ThePrint also visited the Greater Noida society where the alleged crime took place. A senior executive at the society office said that they have stepped up security and introduced two new rules — delivery partners now have to submit their government ID cards at the reception of the residential tower where they are delivering goods and are not allowed to exit the society through any gate other than the one they entered from.
There were at least 10 staff members at the office, and the society now stations 3-4 guards at each of its three gates. Like other residential complexes, to enter the society premises, any outsider needs to inform the guards at the gates of the tower and flat numbers, after which a notification is sent on the MyGate app.
In case a notification isn’t sent, a call is placed through the intercom to the apartment and only after approval by the resident is a delivery partner allowed to enter.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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