Farmers see red as pomegranate thieves plunder orchards in Maharashtra

Pune/Mumbai, Nov 23 (PTI) For Altaf Mulla, the three tonnes of Bhagwa pomegranates stolen from his farm in Maharashtra's Solapur in July wasn't just a loss of crop; it was the loss of savings and efforts taken by his family to cultivate the prized fruit while he was recovering from a kidney ailment.

Farmers in Shirur of Pune district and Sangola of Solapur have reported thefts worth lakhs of this precious fruit, which is now proving to be a target for thieves.

The reddish orange fruit of thin rind with many chambers encasing ruby coloured arils fetches Rs 100 per kg.

High-volume thefts have hit farmers in the pomegranate belt of Maharashtra, which includes Solapur, Nashik, Sangli, Ahmednagar, Pune, and Satara.

In Sangola, the 39-year-old Mulla said that he woke up to a rude shock one July morning after discovering market-ready pomegranates worth Rs 4 lakh missing from his orchard.

Talking to PTI, he recalled that the three tonnes of Bhagwa variety pomegranates, which were ready for harvest, were swiftly plucked and stolen from his property.

“The incident has dealt a severe blow, as the entire crop, worth around Rs 4 lakh, was market-ready. My wife and children cultivated it during difficult times while I was undergoing surgery for a kidney stone,” he said.

Shahaji Walunj, a farmer from Shindodi village in Shirur tehsil, has a similar story to tell.

“I had cultivated pomegranates on 2.5 acres. The yield was ready for harvest and was to be sold to a trader in the market for Rs 100 per kg. But on the morning of July 2, I found that around 4,500 kg of pomegranates, worth Rs 4.5 lakh, had been stolen from the trees by unidentified persons,” Walunj said.

He said he later registered a case at the Shirur police station.

“So far, there has been no progress in the investigation. Farmers in the area, who are already scared of leopard attacks, are now also tasked with keeping vigil against such thieves who are on the prowl,” he said.

The 50-year-old cultivator said that he had sold the yield from around 250 trees to a Jharkhand-based trader before the theft and is now reeling under losses.

He pointed out that he had not received any compensation from the government.

According to the Shirur police, Walunj lodged a complaint alleging that a massive 4,500 kg of pomegranate was stolen from his three-acre orchard.

A similar theft was reported in the same month by another cultivator, who claimed that someone had stolen hundreds of kilograms of the fruit from his farm.

Following the thefts, the Shirur police formed a special team and managed to nab one of the accused in July.

Mulla, meanwhile, confirmed that he too had lodged a theft complaint with the Sangola police station, but five months on, there has been no progress in the probe. PTI ZA SPK ARU