Well-known community leader Ghouse Majeed was assaulted by a group of hammer-wielding robbers in an early morning attack at a Mobil station in Papatoetoe on January 21.
Talking to The Indian Weekender, Majeed, who is also the secretary of National Party's Manurewa electorate, said, "I was working at the Mobil petrol station on Cavendish Drive in Papatoetoe, which belongs to my friend. At around 6am, when I was finishing my night shift, four masked young offenders entered the pump.
“They demanded that I open the till and hand over cash, cigarettes and vapes. To save myself, I locked myself in the office.”
One of them even tried to hit Majeed on the head with a hammer. The attacker missed and got him in the ribs. He was taken to Middlemore hospital by ambulance and was discharged in the evening.
Expressing gratitude for surviving the attack, “Bhagwan ne mujhe bacha liya..nahi toh aaj mar hi jaata. If this can happen to a community leader like me, who is safe,” he asks.
The group of offenders left after assaulting Majeed and taking their stolen goods and fleeing in a stolen car.
When contacted, a police spokesperson said, “Police responded to reports of a robbery at a commercial premises on Cavendish Drive about 6.16 this morning.
“Four males assaulted a staff member before taking items and leaving the premises. A stolen vehicle believed to have been used in this robbery has been recovered. Enquiries are ongoing to locate the offenders.”
Sunny Kaushal, Chair, Dairy & Business Owners Group Inc., said, "We need zero tolerance of this kind of crime. Those who commit these crimes have forfeited their rights to freedom.
“We need the new police minister to ensure that the police are properly resourced to clamp down on retail crime so criminals know they will be caught if they commit these crimes against valued members of our community.
“To stop these crimes, we need to catch and prosecute all perpetrators. Until we do this, these crimes will continue.”
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