Ranchi: Ahead of Makar Sankranti when the demand for milk spirals, a police quick response team detained three persons on Monday for pilfering milk from a 20,000-litre-capacity tanker that was coming to the Hotwar plant of Medha Dairy from Lohardaga.

Acting on a tip-off, SSP Kuldeep Dwivedi sent a team to Raj Dhaba, about 40km from the capital, under Chanho police station, and caught the men red-handed.

"The driver, his assistant and an employee of Raj Dhaba were detained. They had started emptying the tanker and had filled one bucket and half of another when the 20-member quick response team nabbed them," a locality resident said, adding the police crack down occurred when passengers of a private bus were having tea at the dhaba.

Officer-in-charge of Chanho police station Rupesh Kumar Singh said the three persons who had been detained were being questioned.

"The tanker and the buckets used in the pilferage were seized. But first, we will send the tanker to the Medha Dairy plant at Hotwar to empty it and save some of the milk collected from farmers," OC Kumar said.

Earlier, Ranchi areas Ormanjhi and Namkum were the hub such pilferage, and both Sudha and Medha dairies have reported milk going missing from their trucks. The Chanho seizure, police sources said, indicated that criminals may have changed their area of operation.

Medha Dairy general manager Narendra Sharma said the tanker had been hired and did not belong to the organisation. "Having a limited number of tankers to bring milk from farmers, we have hired a number of these from a local tanker owner. We have summoned the owner Anil Singh. Those involved in the pilferage are not Medha Dairy staff," he said.

Asked whether the practice of hiring tankers would not raise questions about quality, Sharma explained that they accepted milk at the plant only after conducting proper tests. "The question of deteriorating milk quality does not arise. We accept milk after conducting proper quality tests and pay (farmers) according to that," he said.

On ways to stop milk pilferage, Sharma stressed on the need for consumers to cooperate with them by refusing to buy milk from fly-by-night operators.

"If customers stop buying loose milk and buy only branded milk, pilferage will automatically stop," Sharma said.