GURUGRAM: For years, Sundeep Phogat never felt the need to put a lock to the gate of his shop at the Khandsa Mandi. He didn’t think the items he stocked were “so costly” that they could fall prey to thieves — until Friday morning.
Around 500kg of lemon, 35 crates of tomato and 80kg of capsicum were stolen from Phogat’s shop late on Thursday night. CCTV footage showed a few masked men entering the mandi on a bike and a mini-truck around 1am and fleeing with the vegetables in minutes. Phogat said they were not familiar faces.
The prices of lemons and tomatoes have increased by leaps and bounds. In the wholesale market, the cost of a 24kg bag of tomatoes has spiked by almost 140% in the last few days. Lemons, too, are being sold in the retail market at Rs 250 a kg.
The Khandsa Mandi has multiple entry and exit points, but no elaborate security arrangements. Some of the traders, however, have installed CCTV cameras outside their shops. Footage from the cameras showed one person seated in the truck — having a Delhi registration — and the others loading the vegetables.
Phogat said he was sleeping in a shop at a distance when the theft happened. On Thursday, he had purchased tomato, lemon, capsicum and other vegetables for Rs 55,000 and sold some of them. The remaining stock was kept in his shop. “When I woke up the next morning, I saw the gate wide open. I went inside and found the stock missing,” said Phogat.
A case of theft was registered against unknown persons at Shivaji Nagar police station. “We have the registration number of the mini-truck seen in the footage,” police spokesperson Subhash Boken said.
