BENGALURU: Unidentified miscreants burnt down 300 butter fruit trees of 42-year-old Rathna on more than two acres of land in Bidadi’s Kodiyala Karenahalli. She had made a fortune by selling the fruits this summer. Apart from the trees, the water pipes and machines were also gutted, leaving the entire area in rubble. The losses are estimated to be around Rs 10 lakh.
The victim had built a compound wall to protect the commercial crops. The victim has filed a police complaint. Speaking to TNIE, Rathna said that it was time to pluck the fruits. “The miscreants scaled the compound wall and set the trees ablaze. One of our relatives used to look after the crops, and in his absence, the incident has happened,” Rathna said, who had started growing the crop around four years back. “We are trying to ascertain how did the miscreants set fire to the crops.
There is no CCTV nearby. The miscreants must have mounted a watch. There are open fields in the surroundings where rain-related crops are grown,” the complainant added. Idadi police said that the accused could be a local, and they are not ruling out the possibility of an insider's hand. A case under IPC section 435 has been registered.