Pareekshith Shet
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Apr 13: A gang of youngsters stealing milk crates kept by the roadside regularly and causing losses to local milk vendors has been caught on CCTV. The footage has been made exclusively available to daijiworld.

The gang of youths that used to steal trays containing several litres of milk, sachets of curds etc in the early morning has been captured on camera. Since about a month, these items were stolen from Madhwanagar, Ambagilu, and some other places.

Trays containing milk, Lassi, curds etc were offloaded by distribution vehicle in front of the milk distribution stall at Madhwanagar at around 2 am everyday. By the time the milk vendor came, several litres of these items were found to be regularly going missing. Worried over constant losses, owner of the stall, Jagadish, arranged to fit CCTV cameras.

The CCTV camera footage shows that four young men were involved with this theft. One of them was caught carrying the trays. Two men were also seen carrying milk sachets from the trays kept outside the milk booth at Madhwanagara here.

When Jagadish, owner of the Madhwanagara outlet went to Malpe police station to complain, the policemen said that there was no provision to register theft of milk sachets. They sent him back after collecting oral information.

Jagadish has expressed doubts about the involvement of a local electrician named Manju. When the police went to the house of Manju to question him, his family members said he had gone to Davanagere. Jagadish claims that Manju regularly stole milk and poured it on the coolies from north Karnataka who sleep at Adi Udupi bus stand. Jagadish estimates that he has lost about Rs 8,000 through these thefts. CCTV footage has also found similar activity having been undertaken at Ambagilu milk outlet.