Bengaluru: A pick-up van transporting pricey tomatoes to a marketing yard in Karnataka's Bengaluru city was hijacked by three miscreants, police said on Monday.
The miscreants decamped with the Bolero pickup van laden with tomatoes in Karnataka's Chitradurga area after forcibly stopping the driver and the farmer accompanying him and leaving them by the side of the road.
The incident unfolded in a bizarre manner. Two days ago, a farmer from Hiriyur in Chitradurga was transporting more than 250 kg of tomatoes produced in his farmland, for selling it to a marketing yard. When the vehicle was approaching the RMC Yard police station area, it was stopped by the three miscreants who were travelling in a car.
After alighting from their vehicle, the trio blamed the pickup driver that he hit their car and demanded monetary compensation. A heated argument broke out between them. They also assaulted the driver of the Bolero vehicle. The miscreants were insisting on transferring money through UPI or digital payment. Later, noticing tomatoes in the vehicle, the goons dropped the idea of seeking monetary compensation.
Instead, they hijacked the Bolero vehicle laden with tomatoes. The miscreants sped away with the vehicle laden with tomatoes, leaving the farmer and driver behind, police said on Monday. A case was registered at RMC Yard Police Station in connection with the incident. Based on the CCTV footage, police have launched a manhunt to arrest the three culprits.
In a separate theft incident, tomatoes worth Rs 2.5 lakh were stolen from a farm in Hassan district of the state recently. The pricey vegetable was stolen in the Goni Somanahalli area under Belur taluk. The farmer said that vegetables cultivated on two acres of land plots were stolen by thieves at night. They decamped with the booty in a vehicle, he added.
The skyrocketing price of tomatoes across the country has been the talk of the town in the last few weeks. Vegetable sellers installing cameras or hiring bouncers to safeguard their produce hogged the headlines.
Also read: Rising tomato prices: Mcdonald's drops veggie from food products
