A dairy shop owner is questioning his decision of settling and buying a dairy retail shop in New Zealand as he has become another victim of brazen armed attacks and robbery.
It was 8:35 p.m. on Friday, August 3 when two people, one armed with a hammer and the other with a knife entered Levin Discounter Store on Oxford St in Levin and demanded cash and tobacco.
Although, Raj Pillai, owner of the store, had cleared his til he had a few five and ten dollar bills lying which the robbers didn’t hesitate to grab. The offenders also demanded tobacco from the counter and threatened to come back before leaving the store.
Mr Pillai was at the store with his wife, and though no one was injured, this incident has terrified the newly owned store owner who is now questioning his decision to settle in the country.
Raji Pillai of Levin Discounter Store- Picture: WARWICK SMITH/STUFF
“I have worked on the ship for 25 years as a chief marine engineer and worked a few years on the Interislander, and I resigned from the job. I wanted to have a quiet life,” Mr Pillai told Stuff.co.nz.
“I've been to the Somalian coast, Gulf of Aden, and this never happened to me. It's happening to me in New Zealand."
“Earlier shoplifters would take candies and chocolates from the store for which I installed a steel bar on his glass doors and now such armed robberies,” he exclaimed.
Mr Pilliai bought the dairy store in December last year settling with his family.
"I bought a house in Levin and came to New Zealand to live with some peace and happiness," he told media.
He says that he had never expected this in such a peaceful country like New Zealand and disappointed that local businesses have increasingly become targets of local thugs.
"He [the offenders] must be caught and brought to justice. We are law-abiding citizens of New Zealand, so I request law-abiding citizens should be protected from the criminals." Mr Pillai has appealed.
Mr Pillai says he may close the door after dark and only allowing customers when they arrive.
The store reopened late on Saturday morning once police had investigated.
Police reported two another unrelated robbery at Thirsty Liquor on Exford Road, which is barely 500 metres from Mr Pillai’s dairy store and another at Top Cook Dairy and Takeaways on College Road in Palmerston North.