Hyderabad: Unidentified helmet wearing man stole 75 kgs of tomatoes in Sangareddy

Amid skyrocketing prices of tomatoes, a thief wearing a helmet and rain coat stole three crates from a vegetable shop in the market of Zaheerabad in Sangareddy district.

Hyderabad: In a recent case of theft, a thief wearing a helmet stole three boxes from a vegetable shop in the market of Zaheerabad in Telangana's Sangareddy district on Friday (July 21), police said on Monday. Police said the stolen tomatoes were brought to the market by a farmer from Zaheerabad Mandal.

He came to the market on Friday evening to sell 40 tomato boxes. He stored the tomato boxes in the shop of a commission agent, Jagannath Reddy, in the market waiting for the wholesale auction which was scheduled for early Saturday morning. The suspect, wearing a helmet and a raincoat came to the market area after midnight and decamped with three tomato crates from the spot.

The farmer has brought overall 40 boxes of tomatoes. Though the thief's movements were recorded in the store's CCTV cameras, the police are yet to nab the culprit. The commission agent has informed that the value of the stolen tomatoes is around Rs.10,000. A police official who is privy to the investigation said they were examining the CCTV footage based on the complaint of the farmer and the commission agent.

It may be recalled, a few days earlier, around 20 kgs of tomatoes were stolen by a few thieves in Telangana’s Mahabubabad district. Along with tomatoes, other vegetables, including a box full of green chillies were also stolen. In another case, a farmer in Maharashtra's Pune district had approached the police, alleging theft of 400 kg of tomatoes. The rise in tomato prices has made it a coveted cooking ingredient. It has also led to a sudden spurt in tomato thefts reported from different places across the country.