Tomatoes worth Rs 2.7 lakh stolen from Karnataka farm, as rising prices make it a precious commodity
Hassan (K'taka)/Hyderabad (Telangana), July 6: The skyrocketing prices of tomato have made the culinary staple so valuable that it has lured thieves into stealing them. In one such incident, thieves made away with tomatoes worth Rs 2.7 lakh right from a farm in Belur in this district.
This is not the only theft of tomatoes that has been reported. In a theft of a smaller scale, 20 kg of tomatoes was allegedly stolen from a shop in Mahabubabad district in Telangana, police said on Thursday.
Tomatoes are presently sold at Rs 150 a kg in Bengaluru.
According to the tomato farmer in Belur, who was in tears, the thieves decamped with the tomatoes on Tuesday night.
Parvathamma said her family had been guarding their tomato farm cautiously. "We had sown tomatoes in two acres but we got nothing. Tomatoes used to grow but they never ripened. This time they grew but day-before-yesterday, someone stole them," Parvathamma told PTI with tears in her eyes.
"We toiled so much on the farm but we got nothing. My husband can't speak. We only work here from morning 7 till 9 in the night. We poured all our labour and money but everything was looted," the farmer said.
Giving details of the incident, Hassan Superintendent of Police Hariram Shankar said on Wednesday a tomato cultivator Dharani lodged a complaint with the Halebid police.
On the previous night, she had watered the crop and gone home. When she returned on Wednesday morning, she realised that someone had illegally entered her farm and stolen all the tomatoes.
"According to the farmer, tomatoes that would fit in 90 boxes, which would cost around Rs 2.7 lakh, have been stolen from her farm. We have registered a case and are investigating the matter," Shankar told PTI.
In the theft in Telangana, the incident took place in Dornakal mandal on Wednesday night, police said.
The vegetable vendor said tomato weighing 20 kgs and four other vegetables weighing about 35 kg kept in two boxes in his shop were taken away by unidentified persons.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
