It was around 4 PM when the owner and two family members at Krishna Jewellers on Great South Road in Papatoetoe were going about their usual tasks inside the shop. Suddenly, a car screeched up onto the footpath and stopped right in front of the store. A group of five people jumped out of the car and tried to force their way inside, eventually breaking through the fortified front door. The family rushed to the back exit for safety and activated the fog machine, but within just a few minutes, the robbers managed to steal everything they could before fleeing to the waiting vehicle outside.

According to those inside, the group of young men was armed with hammers, crowbars, and a large machete. The store’s owner, Suresh Raniga, told this reporter how deeply upset and shaken he was by the incident. He expressed his frustration with local leaders, politicians, and the police, saying they have once again let the Papatoetoe business community down. “We’re always living in fear of being targeted by robbers, and nothing ever changes. The government talks about crime reduction, but in reality, nothing has improved,” he said.
It’s believed that the same group was involved in another robbery that occurred shortly after, at Michael Hill Jewellers in the Manawa Bay mall near Auckland Airport.
While this wasn’t the first time Krishna Jewellers had been targeted, Raniga said the timing made this robbery much more dangerous, as it occurred in broad day light during business hours. He said the full extent of loss is still unclear, but he and his family are in the process of taking stock and cleaning up. They are also considering further investment in security, though they’ve already taken steps to enhance it in the past.
During the robbery, the offenders smashed glass cabinets inside the store, while staff took cover to stay safe. “The men then fled in the same car they arrived in, which was later found abandoned nearby,” Paea, a spokesperson for the store, said.
In the second robbery, which took place shortly before 7 PM at the Mānawa Bay shopping centre near Auckland Airport, a group of robbers stormed into a jewellery store, smashing cabinets and stealing jewellery. They escaped in a stolen vehicle, which was abandoned nearby on Richard Pearse Dr. The offenders split into two cars as they fled the scene. Thankfully, no staff members were physically injured, but they were understandably shaken by the ordeal. “We believe these two incidents may be linked,” with police investigating the matter further.

Local crime prevention advocate Akhilesh Chaudhary noted that robberies like the one at Krishna Jewellers are becoming increasingly common in Papatoetoe, and it’s driving customers to shop elsewhere. “The owners have gone through a lot of mental stress… it will take time for them to recover,” he said. “These kinds of crimes have been quiet for a while, but it seems there’s a new group causing trouble.”

He added that “both shopkeepers and customers are feeling unsafe. Customers are saying they’d rather shop somewhere else than come into Papatoetoe,” he explained. “It’s impacting businesses badly.”

When this reporter spoke to a few nearby shop owners about the incident, they expressed surprise and admitted they didn’t know about it. They seemed unaware that such an event had occurred in their neighbourhood. -Yugal Parashar