Samajwadi Party worker hires bouncers to ‘protect’ tomatoes in Varanasi

livemint.com:

₹140-160 per kg. He refused to reveal how much he hired them for.

"No one will provide bouncers free of cost," Fauji said. Asked how keeping bouncers has helped him, Fauji claimed even though people are coming in same numbers, they are less militant about the pricing now.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav too shared the image of a news clip relating to Fauji and his bouncers, and tweeted, "The BJP should provide 'Z-Plus' security to tomatoes."   Tomato prices are soaring due to adverse weather. A delayed monsoon, heavy rains in some growing areas and hotter-than normal temperatures last month hit output of the crop, causing a five-fold increase in prices this year.

Tomato prices typically rise during June-July and then again in October-November due to lower production seasons in major growing areas. Southern and western states, which account for almost 60% of the country’s total tomato production, send their surplus crop to other markets in India depending on the season.