As prices soar, thieves steal over Rs 8 lakh in onions

Reports of theft of cash, gold and other valuables have been quite common. But ever heard hundreds of sacks of onion, weighing several quintals, stolen from a locked godown?

This is precisely what happened at Fatuha near Patna on Sunday when unidentified miscreants burgled into a godown on the outskirts of the State Capital and decamped with 328 packets of onion, worth Rs 8 lakh. While fleeing, they also took away Rs 1.83 lakh cash kept in the cupboard.

The matter came to light when the guard, who had locked the premises before leaving for his residence, returned and found the godown unlocked and several packets of onion strewn over.

“An FIR has been lodged by the owner of the godown, Dheeraj Kumar, claiming that 328 packets of onion worth Rs 8 lakh have been stolen. We are trying to ascertain the identity of the culprits through the CCTVs installed in the area,” said the officer-in-charge of the police station, Manish Kumar.

Of late, price of onion has soared here in Bihar after the crop was reportedly damaged due to heavy rains in Maharashtra and Karnataka. Bihar gets onion mostly from Maharashtra, Karnataka and West Bengal. While in July, the price of onion was Rs 18-20 per kg, it jumped to Rs 70 this week. Traders feel the price may escalate to Rs 80-90 per kg in the next few days keeping in mind a mismatch of demand and supply during the festive season.