When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Thieves took this axiom literally and stole a tonne of lemons from KR Market in the last month to take advantage of the rising prices of the citrus fruit.
While wholesale vendors caught a suspected thief and handed him over to the police, lemons continue to be stolen.
Velu C, 52, a vendor, has filed a police complaint over the matter.
Velu stated that on the night of April 20, eight gunny bags of lemons were stolen from SKR Market Complex. The incident came to light around 9 am when vendors went to the market to do business.
Velu told DH: “We closed the shop around 10.30 pm on April 20. Thieves stole lemons at midnight. Among the eight bags, six bags belonged to me. Lemon prices have gone up because of the demand in the summer, so some thieves are stealing them.”
Other vendors whose lemons were stolen were Murugan, Manju, Maari, Venkatesh and Guttamma. In the last month, thieves stole 30 bags. Each bag contains around 35 kg of lemon (around 800 lemons in each bag). Each bag costs between Rs 2,200 and Rs 3,000. The total value of the stolen lemons is around Rs 75,000, vendors said.
Retail vegetable vendors sell each lemon for Rs 3.5 to Rs 8 depending on the size and the area where they sell them.
According to vendors, this is the first time lemons are being stolen from the market. No such incidents were reported even during the Covid-19 pandemic when there was more demand.
Vendors keep lemon bags on wooden planks and cover them with tarpaulin sheets and tie them with ropes. If someone has to steal the lemons, they have to untie the rope and steal the bag.
On April 22, a person named Balaji, 26, who works near the fruit market, was loitering near the SKR market. He was observing the lemon vendors. "We suspected something fishy as the labourers from the fruit market usually don’t come to our market. As we approached him, he ran away and was hiding in the underpass. We caught him and on questioning, he confessed to having stolen lemon bags," said Velu.
The vendors called the City Market police and handed over Balaji to them. Balaji took the police to a vegetable vendor in the Mandipete area to whom he had sold four bags of lemon. He claims that he is not aware of the other bags stolen. Balaji sold the lemon for half the price and spent the money.
A senior police officer said: "We suspect Balaji and a few others have stolen the lemon bags, because it is very difficult for one person to steal so many bags. We are investigating the case to find out the other thieves."
"There is only one security guard for the market. For patrolling from one corner to another, he needs at least 30 minutes. Thieves watch his movement and steal lemon bags. CCTV cameras have been removed due to ongoing repairs."
Even after catching Balaji a couple of bags were stolen. Vendors have stopped leaving the lemons in the market. They keep them in the mandi.