Coimbatore : Rural police are on the lookout for masked miscreants who waylaid and looted Rs.70 lakh in the rural limits from a Kerala-based jeweller late on Thursday.

Police said Vittal Sait, from Pattambi in Kerala, who had come to the city for delivering ornaments, was returning home with Rs 70 lakh.

As his car, driven by Anwar, his driver, crossed Madukkarai on the outskirts, another car followed it, overtook it. Four masked persons got down and hit Anwar and threw him down, resulting in his becoming unconscious. They then took Sait in their car, snatched the bag containing money, hit him and later left, police said on Friday. Anwar, who recovered noticed Sait lying injured in the car and lodged a complaint in Walayar, bordering Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Police rushed to the spot and admitted the duo to the Palakkad Government Hospital.

Palakkad police informed KK Chavadi police in Tamil Nadu about the incident, based on which they were monitoring the CCTV footage from Madukkarai to the accident spot.