CHENNAI: As onion prices go through the roof, making it all the more dear, "thieves" struck at a farm in Perambalur's Koothanur village and stole 350 kg of shallots (small onions), from a farmer. The six sacks of onions which were stolen is valued at Rs 42,000.
The shocked farmer, K. Muthukrishnan (40), who had purchased about 1,000 kg of shallots for Rs 1 lakh last week, was literally in tears after he found that thieves had made off with 350 kg of the 'precious commodity'. Only a few days back, he had ploughed his three-acre land to cultivate shallots and had even bought seeds from Chathiramani village.
"It has been raining for the past few days and I have been waiting for the ripe time to sow. I kept the shallots in sacks in my field and covered them. This morning, I found six bags stolen. The remaining bags were open and the shallots were scattered all over," a visibly upset Muthukumar said.
He had stored 15 sacks of small onions at his farm. And now finding 350 kg - six sacks - of small onions missing from his farm, Muthukrishnan registered a complaint with the Padalur police.
An investigation is on to nab the culprits.
The cost of the stolen small onions is approximately over Rs 42,000. Currently, small onions are being sold at about Rs 150 per kg in the open market.
The farm where the small onions were kept is about 50 metres from Koothanur - Alathur main road, and could have been easily accessed, say officials who suspect someone possessing a mini-load vehicle could have been involved in the theft.
The incident reminds one of the string of Whatsapp videos with memes on spiralling prices of onion and how people were reeling under the unprecedented price hike. A home maker in the city remarked that onions have now become costlier than a saree. The price of this precious commodity peaked to Rs 140 per kilo (Bellary onions) at the Koyambedu market here.
