BENGALURU: Sheep rearers from across the state, who have descended on Eidgah Maidan in Chamarajpet to sell their flock ahead of Bakrid, are facing losses to the tune of several thousands of rupees as their sheep are being stolen.
Every year, these sellers come to the Eidgah Maidan — one of the oldest places that sells goats and sheep during Bakrid — after rearing the animals for 6-8 months. Some sheep fetch prices of up to Rs 1.75 lakh and most of them are sold at prices ranging between Rs 4,000 and Rs 15,000.
However, with no security arrangements in place, at least 25 sheep have been stolen from there in the past one week.
To guard the interests of hundreds of sheep rearers, there is only one cop from the Chamarajpet Police Station on patrol. The ground is open with no compound wall or gates. The sellers, who have camped there for the past one week, are worried as their sheep are stolen in the middle of the night when they are asleep. The animals are tethered to a stick which can be removed easily.
Nagaraj, a rearer from Bengaluru who was at the Eidgah Maidan on Saturday, has 20 sheep. “We take turns and stay awake in the night ... sometimes when we doze off, the thief, who will be waiting in the dark, steals the animals and disappears in a few seconds ... only in the morning, when we do a headcount, that we realise about the theft,” he said. The sellers also say that it is suspected that some of the robbers come earlier in the day posing as customers asking for the price of each animal so that they know which ones to steal.
Another seller, Kumar, said two of his lambs were stolen two days ago. “Each lamb cost Rs 4,000. We come here to make a few thousands, but the thief gets the lion’s share. There is neither CCTV camera nor police posted for security,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, the prices of sheep have also increased. “Last year, the cost of one big sheep of Bannur breed was Rs 80,000 ... this year, the same-sized sheep costs more than a lakh. Bannur sheep is known for its quality ... also, it is in high demand. I recently sold a pair of Bannur sheep for Rs 1.05 lakh each,” Madesh (name changed) from Mysuru district said.
He said it takes at least 10 months for a lamb to become a sheep and that they spend almost Rs 300 each day to feed them.
Syed Madar Hussai, who gets his sheep from Vijayapura, said each sheep of the Bannur breed can weigh up to 150 kg and can grow up to 4 ft in height. The cost of each sheep even touches Rs 1.7 lakh sometimes, he added. “We are four of us who are camped here .... we ensure that one of us stays awake in the night,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chamarajpet Police Station authorities confirmed that there are sheep and goats missing, but the sellers have not formally lodged complaints.
“We have two beat policemen, but the ground is big and connects four roads. There are thousands of sheep ... on Saturdays and Sundays, hundreds of sheep come in tempos. One or two might have been stolen. We are planning to install CCTV cameras,” sources said.