The act of miscreants stealing diesel, from various mobile phone towers in the areas lying on the border of Kodagu and Hassan districts, was exposed on Tuesday.
When the accused were trying to decamp with the diesel they had extracted from a mobile tower at Malambi village near Shanivarasanthe, a private contractor chased them in his vehicle.
The car in which the accused were travelling fell into a drain. The miscreants left the car and fled from the spot.
Shanivarasanthe police seized the car, along with two cans of diesel, placed in the vehicle.
The tower belonged to a private telecommunication company.