22,000 Kilograms of cheese stolen In major scam at London manufacturer
London, Oct 26: Thieves with a nose for fine cheese have pulled off a massive cheddar ripoff in London.
Neal's Yard Dairy said a con artist posing as a wholesale distributor for a major French retailer had made off with 22 metric tons (48,488 pounds) of award-winning cheddar worth 300,000 British pounds (USD 390,000) before the company realised it had been scammed and reported the theft on Monday.
“The high monetary value of these cheeses likely made them a particular target for the thieves,” Neal's Yard Dairy, a distributor, wholesaler, and retailer of British artisanal cheese, said in a statement.
Detectives at Scotland Yard and international authorities are searching for the culprits.
Nearly 1,000 wheels of cloth-wrapped cheese from three makers have gone missing: Hafod Welsh organic cheddar, Westcombe cheddar, and Pitchfork cheddar.
The dairy sells a wedge of Hafod cheddar for 12.90 pounds (USD 16.70) for 270 grams (9.5 ounces).
Tom Calver, a director of Westcombe Dairy, said a lot of work went into making the cheese that was aged 12 to 18 months
“We're devastated,” Calver said. “For that to be stolen ... it's absolutely terrible.”
Neal's Yard Dairy has asked international cheesemongers to be on the lookout for the stolen cheese, particularly in 10-kilogram (22-pound) and 24-kilogram (52-pound) blocks.
It says it has paid all three cheesemakers in full, in keeping with its ethos of supporting small independent businesses developing the British cheese sector.
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Uber, Ola partner with Bengaluru Police on safety
Bengaluru (PTI): Bengaluru City Police (BCP) on Monday said that it has, in collaboration with cab aggregator platforms Uber and Ola, implemented a technology-driven integration aimed at enhancing the safety of riders and drivers.
It would also strengthen emergency response mechanisms across the city.
As part of this initiative, emergency call facilities have been incorporated within the Uber and Ola mobile applications used for booking rides, it said.
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Through this integration, riders and drivers seeking emergency assistance can directly share real-time location data, trip details, and contact information with Bangalore City Police's 112 emergency response infrastructure from within the Uber/Ola app itself, an official release said.
Noting that this seamless flow of critical information enables quicker police access during emergencies, facilitating faster response times and potentially life-saving interventions by first responders, it said the initiative is a significant step towards leveraging technology partnerships to ensure safer urban mobility and improved public safety.
