Armed robbers raid Indian restaurant in New Zealand, flee with cash

Wellington : Armed robbers raided an Indian restaurant in New Zealand's Auckland city and fled with cash after injuring a worker and threatening others, a media report said.

Police reached Mithaiwala, a vegetarian restaurant located on the intersection of Mt Albert and Sandringham roa after reports of an aggravated robbery last week, The New Zealand Herald newspaper reported.

Two people entered the premises with a firearm and threatened staff members inside the restaurant, a police spokesperson said, adding that they took "a quantity of cash before fleeing in a vehicle". The report did not specify the amount taken away by the robbers.

“Thankfully, no injuries have been reported to those staff members, however they are understandably shaken, and police are providing support," the police spokesperson said. A worker hanging fairy lights outside the restaurant was injured but it was not serious.

“My back hurt a little but I am okay now,” he told The New Zealand Herald. He said three men tried to get in the back of the store, hitting and injuring his back in the process. Last week, an 18-year-old was sentenced to more than three years in jail in Hamilton for his role in robbing and attacking Nitin Patel, a dairy store owner, repeatedly with a metal bar, leaving him with a permanent leg injury.

Incidents of crime and robbery have continued in New Zealand after 34 year-old Indian dairy worker Janak Patel was brutally stabbed to death in 2022 by robbers in Sandringham.

In June this year, a group of dairy store owners, mostly of Indian descent, presented a petition signed by 34,000 people to the New Zealand Parliament, calling for government action.

The petitioners called on the government to take a harder stance on crime, with more police presence on the streets, legal penalties for parents of youth offenders, and stronger punishments for teenagers who were offending.