Activists from the BJP protest against the rise in onion prices in New Delhi

Mintu Chottelal, 30, a mini-truck driver, and his helper, Rinku Gujjar, 19, were driving along the Delhi-Jaipur Highway when a minivan suddenly stopped in front of them. Three men jumped out, overpowered them and drove away with their cargo.They did not get far. About an hour later, the police chased down and recovered the truck, its nearly 20,000 pounds of onions still aboard. The three robbers escaped."I have never heard of anything like this before," Bhawani Singh, a police officer at the Shahpura police station, about 50 miles from Jaipur, said in a phone interview, "but onion prices are so high. It makes sense."At prevailing prices, the stash would be worth $7,779 to $10,880.According to official figures released last month, the price of onions rose more than 100 percent from June 2012. Last week, it hit 80 rupees per kilogram, or $1.25 for a little more than two pounds, in some parts of the country, spawning speculation that it would cross the 100-rupee mark.But that grew less likely this week when the central and Delhi state governments announced several measures to rein in onion prices. After all, there is no shortage of supply, Delhi's chief minister said in a news conference on Monday. India is the second largest onion grower in the world, after China.Anaro Devi, 70, a vegetable seller in central Delhi, said she had never seen such a steep rise in the price of vegetables, not just onions. She said she already sold a kilogram of green chilies for 100 rupees, or $1.56. Devi blamed wholesalers for the skyrocketing prices, accusing them of hoarding."The rich don't know anything," she said. "It is the poor who are left to suffer."Soaring onion prices are even figuring into politics here, especially the contest between the governing Congress Party and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been aggressively campaigning ahead of state assembly elections in November.The government, trumpeting its sensitivity, announced last week that it would procure onions directly from major wholesale markets in Rajasthan and Maharashtra, two major onion-producing states, and that the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation would import onions.For some people, the rise in onion prices is more of a public safety issue than a political problem.A trader in Jaipur was attacked recently, purportedly for selling onions at a price below the market rate as part of the Delhi government's plan.

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Kajal Gurung, 44, a homemaker in East Delhi, was not surprised."An incident like this was just waiting to happen," she said. "A bag of onions in my hand has a greater chance of being stolen than a ring or a bracelet."