As prices skyrocket, thieves steal tomatoes worth lakhs from Karnataka farmer's farm
By Vinaykumar Patil | First Published Jul 6, 2023, 4:13 PM ISTTomato Thieves Steal Lakhs Worth of Tomatoes as Prices Soar in Karnataka: Thieves targeted a farmer's tomato farm in Goni Somanahalli village, stealing over 90 boxes of tomatoes worth around Rs 1.5 lakh. The incident has sparked an investigation, with suspicions of a larger organized group involved.
The price of tomatoes in the market has reached sky-high and regular customers are struggling to buy them. Meanwhile, the thieves, who used to steal gold and silver from the houses have now turned towards tomato. To note, in many parts of the tomatoes are priced currently at around 150 Rs/kg.
Thieves struck a farm at Goni Somanahalli village in Karnataka's Hassan district on July 5 and stole tomatoes worth lakhs. The farmland that belonged to Somashekhar is now empty of tomatoes. In the background of the cost of tomatoes and other vegetables soaring, the thieves reportedly stole tomatoes worth around Rs 1.5 lakh from the farm. Somashekhar and his son lodged a complaint in the Halebidu police station.
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Somashekhar had grown tomatoes on two acres of land. He was prepared to sell the tomatoes in the Chikkamagaluru market within two days. But, on Tuesday night itself, the thieves entered their farm and stolen over 90 boxes of tomatoes. Later, they destroyed all the crops while carrying the boxes.
When Somashekhar visited his farm the next morning, he saw that all the crops were destroyed and the tomatoes were missing. He immediately lodged a police complaint.
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"I have been growing tomatoes for the past 7-8 years. Not a single year, I have profited from this crop and they were never priced this much. This year, it was different. The crop was good. I had decided to relieve myself of the crop load by selling them. But now, they have been stolen. I am deeply hurt," said Somashekhar, speaking about the incident.
The police have started investigating the incident. "There are several CCTV’s installed in the farm. Many such Tomato theft cases have been reported by the farmers. The robbery is very massive and it seems that had been pre-planned. We are suspecting that may be a bigger group involved in such activities. We will catch them soon," an investigating officer said.
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