Swiggy identifies 'mystery' horse-rider from viral video

Popular Indian food aggregator Swiggy has clarified that a man riding a horse in a recent viral video is not one of its delivery executives.

The video showed the man galloping on a rain-soaked road in Mumbai city carrying a bag with Swiggy's logo.

It generated a range of responses, from appreciation of the man's commitment to his job to criticism for Swiggy.

But Swiggy said that the horse-rider was a teenager who had "borrowed" a delivery bag.

The company had launched a "horse-hunt" and announced a reward to trace the man after the video went viral.

On Sunday, it said in a tongue-in-cheek statement that "both man and animal had been identified".

Swiggy said Sushant, 17, was not its employee but "a typical teenager who borrows things and forgets to return them".

"In this case, what he borrowed was the Swiggy delivery bag," it added.

The company described Sushant as a "horse couturier" - someone who decks up horses for wedding processions, a common custom in many parts of India. The borrowed bag, it said, contained an embroidered drape and some accessories for the animal.

Before Swiggy's statement, many social media users had debated the unknown man's identity for days. Some called for the man to be rewarded for his services - Mumbai is in the midst of a fierce monsoon season, with heavy rains lashing the city last week.

The video also revived a conversation about the working conditions of delivery riders, who often travel at breakneck speed - battling a ticking clock, traffic snarls and demanding customers - to deliver food within minutes. Many of them opt for the gig economy out of desperation and are hugely underpaid and overworked.

This may have prompted Swiggy to launch its search for the rider - it had announced a reward for the first person "who can give intel about our accidental brand ambassador".

On Sunday, Swiggy said that "a young man named Avi" and his friend - who shot the viral video from their car - had claimed the reward.

The company also appeared to be leaning into the unexpected popularity of the video. Some social media users shared screenshots saying that Swiggy had changed the rider's icon on its app to a man on a horse.