Cuttack: Two minor boys were kept as 'mortgage' by a fraudster who came to buy 10 kilograms of tomato and later decamped with 2 kilograms of the vegetable at Chhatra Bazaar in Cuttack, today. This bizarre incident took place against the backdrop of skyrocketing prices of tomatoes across the country.

According to sources, the fraudster had hired the minors on the pretext of shifting a washing machine elsewhere. Later, the man asked the duo to sit at a makeshift vegetable vending shop. He purchased tomatoes and tactfully fled from the spot without making payment and saying that he will bring money that he has kept in his motorcycle dicky.

It raised doubts after the man did not return for long hours. The vendor enquired about the whereabouts of the fraudster but failed to locate him.

The minors subsequently expressed that they did not know the man and were only hired.

“The wrongdoer had fixed a wage of Rs 300 and asked us to come here. We did not know the man and we have been cheated,” one of the minor boys expressed.

“I will let the boys go only after getting my payment,” said the irate vendor.