Police has started a search operation for the stolen goods. (Representational)
Goods worth over Rs 70 lakh were looted allegedly by villagers and passersby after a container truck overturned Maharashtra's Osmanabad, with police having to form teams to launch a search operation in nearby areas to get people to return the items they had made away with, an official said on Tuesday.
The incident happened on the Solapur-Aurangabad highway stretch at around 3am on Monday, the official said.
"The truck was carrying mobile phones, computers, LEDs, toys and other electronic items. Villagers and passersby started taking away these things after they fell on the road, while some cut open the door of the overturned container. A team of the local police as well as the riot control squad had to be deployed to restore order," he said.
While some villagers returned the goods on the appeal of the police, many did not, after which teams searched the nearby areas to get people to return what they had taken from the truck, he said.
"Items worth Rs 70 lakh may have been looted and we have so far managed to retrieve 40 per cent of them. The operation to get more people to give back what they have taken is underway," senior police official Motichand Rathod said.