Shops owners consider firearms to defend aggravated robberies

Another daylight robbery in Auckland and Whangarei has forced the shop owners to consider carrying a firearm in defence during aggravated robberies.

“Store owners are at a stage where they are frustrated of these incidents, and if need be, they are willing to hold a firearm behind the counter, not to shoot but to scare the offenders off,” Mr Suresh Ramji, vice-president of Manukau Indian Association, told Indian Weekender.

At around 7 a.m. on March 20, a group of seven men entered Hillside Superette in Papatoetoe, armed with wheel jack, and robbed the store of cigarettes and cash. There were two people in the shop at the time the incident happened.

One of the offenders pinned the store man on the ground while the owner Kishore Patel managed to stay away from the offender’s block, unharmed.

The other attacker shook the wired security cage but failed to bring it down. Determined to get away with something, another member of the group slid through the cage into the cash counter, and in less than a minute, took cigarettes from the rack estimated $7000 and unaccounted amount of cash.

The robber, whose face was covered and was clad in a blue hoodie sweatshirt and blue track pants, climbed inside the counter, cleared the rack, and passed the cigarette trays to his accomplice standing outside the counter. He also took cash from the till and then pulled the till tray and squeezed himself through the cage, running away with his accomplices.

The robbery at Hillside Superette is the latest in the string of attacks in the last few weeks. Retail stores in South Auckland have been victims of a number of aggravated robberies in recent weeks. Indian Weekender, in its March 17 issue, reported a list of robberies in South Auckland including firing between police and robbers at Idlewild Dairy in Mangere on March 13, robbery at gunpoint at Puhinui Superette, Papatoetoe March 11, and a gas petrol station robbery in Manukau on the night of March 7.

The incident has enraged dairy owners to a point where some of them are considering keeping firearms to defend themselves in such situations.

“Gone are the days when one-on-one confrontation happened with bats and sticks. These days, hooligans attack in a group of more than five or seven people, so what do you do when someone wields an iron rod or a knife on your head?” Mr Ramji added.

In another incident, two people were hospitalised on March 12 when seven people stormed a dairy store in Mt Roskill and beat the store attendees.

Most of the dairy owners in South Auckland have installed iron wires on their counters, panic alarms, multiple CCTV cameras, iron grill outside the store against ram raids, etc. to protect themselves. There are community patrolling groups and even the police patrol the area during the day, late evenings, and in the wee hours.

“We have been seeking advice within the community, held multiple meetings, and have been speaking to the police as well. The [store] owners feel this should be the next step to scare these hooligans,” Mr Ramji added.

“We just want to scare these hooligans. The idea is not to shoot but frighten them and defend.”

Whangarei dairy robbery

Maunu Superette in Whangarei was robbed at around 5 p.m. on March 20.

According to sources, a witness saw a masked man standing near Maunu Superette just before the robbery and informed the police of a ‘robbery in progress.’ The witness had chased the offender before he disappeared. The shop owner also ran after the offender. No arrests have been made so far.

The area is haunted by two robberies in the last three days, the other being Four Square supermarket in Otaika, which was robbed of tobacco and cash by three armed men on the night of March 18.