Patna: Amid skyrocketing prices of onions across India, and major shortages of the bulb, the driver of a truck loaded with tonnes of onions was taken hostage by robbers who eventually decamped with 102 sacks.
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The incident took place in the Kaimur district of India’s Bihar state.
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Onion prices in the state have gone up to Rs100 per kg (Dh5.1) in the last one month.
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A police officer said on Saturday that the truck was heading towards Jehanabad, in Bihar, from Uttar Pradesh’s Allahabad.
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Deshraj, the truck driver, told police he was taken hostage by at least six armed persons around 10pm on Thursday night.
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Deshraj is said to be a resident of Kaushambi district of Uttar Pradesh. Based on his statement, an FIR has been registered and the police are investigating the matter.
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He said the criminals left him, at around 2am on Friday, 5km away from where he was taken hostage. Later, he found that some onion sacks were missing from his truck.
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Earlier, in the first week of December, a similar incident of robbery took place in Kudra police station area in Bihar’s Kaimur district.
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The robbers had fled with 64 sacks (1,920 kg) of garlic from a vehicle. An FIR in this case has been lodged but the police are yet to make a breakthrough.
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The Morning and Evening Brief###
The Morning and Evening Brief