Since the price of tomatoes shot up in recent weeks, multiple incidents have been reported where produce worth lakhs of rupees was stolen.
Representative image/PTI
Ever since the price of tomatoes across states has soared to over Rs 150 per kg, multiple incidents of tomato theft have being reported, along the lines of glod robberies or bank heists. In the latest such incident, a truck carrying tomatoes valued at approximately Rs 21 lakh going from Karnataka’s Kolar to Jaipur in Rajasthan has gone missing. The truck, owned by Mehat Transport of Kolar, departed from Kolar on July 27 and was expected to reach Jaipur on the night of July 29. However, it has not reached its destination yet.
Traders who hired the truck expressed concerns about the disappearance of the vehicle, saying they should have been informed of any accident by now. They fear that the truck may have been hijacked or stolen by the driver. Investigative efforts have indicated that the truck covered a distance of 1,800 kilometres, and the last known GPS location was at Nashik in Maharashtra.
Following the disappearance, the mandi owner in Kolar filed a complaint about the missing truck and its load of tomatoes. The owner of the truck too has been unable to establish contact with the driver since the incident occurred, and the cleaner reportedly does not own a phone.
This is the third reported incident of a ‘tomato heist’ in Karnataka amid the drastic increase in tomato prices. In a recent case, the Bengaluru city police arrested a couple and their associates who hijacked a truck loaded with 2.5 tonnes of tomatoes from a farmer in Chitradurga on July 8. The couple then took the stolen truck to Tamil Nadu, where they sold the tomatoes.
A few days prior to this incident, tomatoes harvested and stored on a farm in Belur taluk of Hassan district were also stolen by a group of unidentified men, resulting in a loss of tomatoes worth Rs 1.5 lakh from the farm.
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