In a swift crackdown, Solan police arrested a 24-year-old man from Gosan village near Kasauli for stealing a garlic-loaded Mahindra pickup truck. The vehicle, worth approximately Rs3.5 lakh and containing 15 sacs of garlic valued at Rs10,000, was reported missing by owner Yashpal Sharma, a resident of Sirmaur.
Sharma had parked his Mahindra Pickup (HP-64-5498) outside his rented room in Shamti, Solan, around 12:10 PM the previous day. When he stepped out the next morning, both the vehicle and the garlic were gone.
A case under Section 379 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was promptly registered at the Sadar police station. Police launched an investigation leveraging CCTV footage and technical surveillance. Their efforts paid off when the suspect, Virender, was spotted crossing the Parwanoo-Solan toll plaza early in the morning.
Following a coordinated operation, police arrested Virender and recovered the vehicle from Sector 26, Chandigarh, where he had abandoned it after selling the stolen garlic at a local grain market.
During interrogation, Virender confessed to the crime. Further investigations revealed that he has a history of theft, raising concerns about his involvement in additional unsolved cases.
The vehicle is now in police custody, and authorities are continuing their probe.
