KALPETTA: In a little-known robbery tactic, a thief broke into a teashop and took away cigarettes, sweets and toffies worth Rs 12,000 without taking any money. The unusual theft took place in Naseer’s tea shop in Kalpetta. The shopkeeper came to know about the theft only when he arrived to open the shop the next morning.

It was found that a portion of the shop was demolished for the thief to sneak inside. After checking, it was found that cigarettes worth Rs 12,000 and sweets worth Rs 3,000 were stolen. Interestingly, valuable properties including money remained untouched. Police doubt someone familiar with the area might have committed the theft. An investigation has started with police scrutinizing the CCTV visuals from the nearby area.

The shop owner is in shock since such an untoward incident is happening for the first time since he started running the shop almost five years back. However, locals placed their worries saying the place as a hotbed for anti-social activities carried out by certain gangs during the late night hours. The locals also fumed about the Police inaction even after repeatedly complaining about the illicit activities run by gangs during the dark hours in this area. They also demanded that the authorities take steps to strengthen security, including night patrolling.