LUCKNOW: With the prices looking north consistently, the vegetable thieves are on the prowl. After Shahjahanpur ‘heist’, a similar incident has been reported in Kanpur now.
The thieves have made away with around 15,000 lemons weighing 7.5 quintals from orchards in Kanpur during the last four days.
Meanwhile, on Monday, thieves had allegedly fled with 60 kg lemons, 40 kg onions and 38kg garlic from a warehouse under Tilhar police station limits in Shajahanpur.
Local people say that rattled by the lemon theft, the growers have hired lathi-wielding guards to protect the crop. Kanpur, Chaubeypur, Bithoor, Pariyar, Katri and Mandhana areas are recognized as lemon belt where lemons are grown in about 2000 bigha of land.
According to Ramesh Pal, one of the lemon growers, in Bithoor Katri, the farmers are hiring people to protect the crop round the clock for the first time. “We are keeping the guards at Rs 500 -800 per guard a day,” he said.
Amarnath Vishwakarma, Bithoor police station house officer, said that lemon growers are approaching the police with the complaint of lemon theft. “They are submitting complaints against unidentified persons and are getting the FIR lodged. Recently, two lemon growers approached us to file a case of lemon theft from their orchards in a span of three days,” said the police personnel.
According to Pankaj Nishad, who has four bighas of land on which lemon is grown, after losing 2000 lemons on daily basis, the entire family is staying in the orchard to guard lemons.
In the retail market, lemons are selling at a rate of Rs 250-300 per kg in Kanpur and other districts including the state capital Lucknow.
Earlier, in Shajahanpur, thieves decamped with 60kg lemons, 40kg onions, and 38kg garlic from a warehouse under the Tilhar police station limits.
According to the police sources, the incident in Tilhar was reported by greengrocer Manoj Kashyap on Monday. The alleged theft took place after he stored the vegetables in a warehouse on Sunday night.