The News Minute| New Delhi| June 22, 2014| 7.20 pm ISTJackfruits disguised as mangoes have been exported to the European Union in defiance of a ban, police sources have told The News Minute (TNM). Major airports and train stations in the country have been placed on high alert to prevent other jackfruits from escaping and a green corner notice has been issued to prevent suspicious movements of legless, prickly and large objects that can sometimes resemble a hedgehog.All citizens in an around New Delhi, Gurgaon and the NCR region have been told to report any movement of jackfruits either driving a car, riding a bus or hailing an auto – that is their preferred mode of travel. People have also been asked to not touch any passport or document that may be lying around with the name or surname jackfruit written on them or a identified by a thumbprint. “The situation is under control, security has been beefed up and all fruits currently in flight have been captured and suspended. Eat at sight orders are also in place in addition to section 144,†a senior source in the police who wished to remain anonymous has confirmed. “I don’t want to be accused of planting a jackfruit,†he added. The matter came to light when investigators failed to make any headway after reports of jackfruits stolen from the garden of JD (U) MP Mahendra Prasad reached the CBI at the wee hours of Friday morning. There were 14 fruits in all and the first beams of the sun bathed the tree, the lady of the house noticed that two fruits were gone. She immediately alerted the household who alerted the neighbours who alerted the police which reached the scene of crime in 14 minutes. As the investigators went up and down the tree in search of the missing fruits, they noticed shoe-marks on the ground leading them to conclude that the thief was wearing shoes, not slippers. By this time, the entire neighbourhood plus three security guards, one gardener as well as one domestic help scanned the house on 4 Tughlaq Road where the jackfruit tree grew. “It takes the hand of a professional and the mind of a genius to stuff mangoes in a jackfruit to work around the ban,†a forensic expert said. At time of writing, news is coming in that the EU is banning all movement of fruits and humans from India towards the continent as they are short staffed and lack fancy-dress detection training. Meanwhile, wags are saying the fruits were eaten by people who may have been hungry, but police sources say that is highly unlikely as there is no documentary evidence to back that claim. In fact, there is no evidence that the two fruits ever existed.We think the MP was looking for some publicity and what may have started as innocent fun has landed him in a soup. In order to avoid such occurrences in the future, we have written a suggestion and dropped it in the suggestion box outside the central secretariat with a copy to the head of CBI. We have suggested that each jackfruit be modified to carry a lal bathi on its head. Come to think of it, there’s a jackfruit tree outside our office and we are also in need of publicity. Everybody needs a jackfruit, sometime in life.