Kamlesh Patel chased down the alleged thief and held him with the help of his friends until police arrived. (Representational Image)
An Indian-origin dairy owner in New Zealand's Christchurch has bravely fought off two robbers and caught one of them as they allegedly tried to flee with his cash register, a media report said today.
Kamlesh Patel, whose shop has earlier been targeted by shoplifters in the past, chased down the man who was trying to steal Opawa Universal Dairy's cash register yesterday and held him with the help of his friends until police arrived.
A second man involved in the attempted robbery, however, managed to escape after his partner was caught. Mr Patel said two men entered his shop and tried to flee with the cash register.
"They run away with the cash register. I started chasing him. He dropped the cash register and I caught him. (The cash register) was too heavy for them. It is too heavy for me," Mr Patel was quoted as saying by Stuff.co.nz news site.
Mr Patel was at the shop with several friends and family members. The group held on to one of the offenders until police arrived a short time later.
He was robbed at gun-point five years ago by a man demanding cash and tobacco. He tried to stop the offender that time too, and received minor head injuries as he tried to wrestle the rifle from the offender.
Mr Patel said no one was hurt in the incident.
"Shoplifters keep coming, but this is different," a police spokesman said.