Theft, hijack, road rage, birthday present: Humble tomato attains celebrity status

A widely-used culinary staple in Indian cuisine, the humble tomato, has become as precious as gold, it seems.

Tomatoes, which were usually sold at ₹20 a kilo has jumped to ₹140 a kilo today, making them out of the reach of the common man. They have become so sought after that they are being gifted as birthday presents. And, people are even stooping low to steal or even hijack a farmer’s truck load of tomatoes.

On Sunday (June 9), Sonal Borse in Maharashtra’s Thane district was over the moon when she received more than 4 kg of tomatoes as a gift on her birthday from her relatives.

A video of Borse cutting a birthday cake with baskets of tomatoes on the table beside her went viral on social media. She later told reporters that she was delighted by the gift given to her by her brother, aunt and uncle.

Also read: McDonald’s drops tomatoes from burgers amid price surge, cites quality concerns

Mumbai too like the rest of the country is reeling from a shortage of this kitchen staple. Tomato farmers from Nashik, Pune and Junnar, who supply this vegetable/fruit to Mumbai, had a poor yield because of the unseasonal rains and Cyclone Biparjoy.

Truck load of tomatoes hijacked

Meanwhile, a day earlier, at Chikkajala in Bengaluru, a gang of three allegedly hijacked a truck laden with tomatoes, even as they were engaged in a heated argument with the truck owner, said the police, according to news reports.

The police have registered a case and efforts are on to nab the culprits.

Farmer Mallesh from Hiriyur in Chitradurga district, was transporting a cartload of tomatoes to Kolar on Saturday, and his truck accidentally bumped into a car. The car mirror broke and the driver abused the farmer and demanded a lot of money as compensation.

Also read: Veggie prices go through the roof with tomatoes registering sharpest rise

The farmer and his driver were trying to negotiate with the car owner, when the latter allegedly took control of the truck forcefully. Subsequently, when he realised the farmer did not have the money, the accused pushed them out of the vehicle and sped away with the truck, which contained 2.5 tonnes of tomatoes, which is worth anywhere between ₹2.5 to ₹3 lakh.

Last week, a farmer from Belur in Hassan district too complained to the police that his tomatoes worth over ₹2.7 lakh were stolen. It’s not water wars but tomato troubles that people have to worry about today.