Kozhikode/Ernakulam: Thieves struck at two separate petrol pumps in Kerala on Thursday and stole a total of Rs 1.8 lakh and a mobile phone from there, police said.
The first incident occurred at Kottooli in Kozhikode district of the state where a masked thief stole Rs 50,000 from a HPCL petrol pump after beating and tying up the security guard present there.
The thief, around 12.30 AM, had broken into the pump's office and sprinkled red chilli powder there before proceeding to steal the money, police said.
However, the security guard, smelling the chilli powder, went to inspect what was going on and tried to stop the thief, police said.
According to CCTV visuals of the incident aired on TV channels, the thief -- wearing a mask and gloves -- is seen beating up and then tying the hands of the guard.
In the other incident in Ernakulam, thieves broke open the office door of a petrol pump within the limits of Munambom police station and stole Rs 1.3 lakh and a mobile phone worth Rs 12,000 from there at around 3 AM, police said.
There was no security guard present at the pump and the theft was discovered when the owner arrived there in the morning to open the office, police said.
The number of thieves involved in the incident are not known at present, police said and added that they were going through CCTV footage from the area to identify the culprits.
