Chikkaballapur, 15 August

A farmer in Chikkaballapur taluk has lost a portion of his ready-to-harvest crop to thieves, with pomegranates worth nearly Rs 1 lakh reportedly stolen at Chadalapura village along the Bengaluru-Chennai National Highway.

This comes days after miscreants allegedly stole Red Globe grapes from a farm at Kolavanahalli village.

Farmer Manjunath said he had cultivated pomegranates on 30 guntas and was preparing to harvest the crop when the thieves allegedly entered the farm and cut fruits from nearly 100 plants located at the far end of the field.

"I had removed some damaged and underdeveloped fruits just two days before the incident. The remaining crop was fully grown and ready for harvest," Manjunath said.

He was expecting a yield of nearly six tonnes, which, at Rs 130 per kg, could have fetched nearly Rs 8 lakh. He had borrowed Rs 1.5 lakh from a farmers' society to finance the cultivation meant for the Nandi village wholesale market. Manjunath said the theft is a major setback as he had hoped to recover his investment and earn a reasonable return.