PUDUCHERRY: Ever since the cost of onions shot up, the Internet has been filled with memes of the commodity being stored in bank lockers and given as gifts in marriages.
On Saturday, the ‘precious’ commodity was the reason for a mob violence of sorts in Puducherry. Lured by its high market price, a roadside vendor tried to steal a sack of onions, but was caught red handed and beaten black and blue by the public.
The incident happened at the Rangapillai Market on Nehru Street, and the onions belonged to wholesale dealer V Velmurugan.
Sources say Velmurugan’s workers were in the process of unloading the onion sacks and taking them to the shop, when they found one bag missing.
One of the workers noticed a man, in his late forties, trying to take away the missing sack on his two-wheeler. The workers and other shopkeepers pounced on him, and tied him up to a lamp post. He was thrashed mercilessly before the police were informed about the incident.
The man confessed to stealing one 50-kg sack of onions worth around Rs 7,000. He was caught while attempting to steal a second bag. He suffered injuries to his face. The man also allegedly confessed to having stolen many times before in similar fashion. As the accused’s kin pleaded with Velmurugan, he did not file a police complaint. The onion bags were returned.
With the price of onions hovering in the range of Rs 140-150 per kg, the thievery did not amuse the bystanders.