Onion truck hijacked, looted in India's Bihar

NEW DELHI -- An onion laden truck was hijacked and subsequently looted in India's eastern state of Bihar, police said Saturday.

The truck carrying five tonnes of onion was hijacked on Thursday night on the old Grand Trunk Road at Mohania in Kaimur district, about 173 km west of Patna, the capital city of Bihar.

"On Thursday night at 10:30, a truck laden with onions coming from Allahabad and heading to Jahanabd was stopped by a group of car-borne men here. The group forcibly got down the driver from truck and kept him hostage inside their car," a police official posted in Mohania said.

"One of the hijackers later took the onion laden truck to some unknown destination and unloaded it there, following which they handed over the empty truck back to the driver."

Police have registered a case and launched a manhunt to trace the robbers.

"We are investigating the matter and so far no arrests have been made," the police official said.

Onion prices in various Indian states including capital city New Delhi have skyrocketed and the price of one kilogram was at around $1.69 (120 INR). The vegetable dealers attribute the price rise of onions to a shortage in domestic supply.

Onions which form the main ingredient of Indian meal are otherwise sold at around $29 (INR 20) a kilogram.

Officials blame late monsoon and cyclones for impacting sowing and crop arrival from main producing centres of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, thus creating a shortage in the market.

To improve the availability of onions in the domestic market and maintain control on prices, India's federal ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution ministry approved import of 120,000 MT of onions through state-owned trading enterprise, Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC).

So far MMTC has ordered an import of 42,500 MT of onions from countries including Turkey and Egypt.