Business robbery caught on camera
A Well-known Kimberley businessman is believed to have been taken into custody following a business robbery that took place at Emis7 Plus supermarket in Schmidtsdrift Road on the weekend.
According to video footage that was taken of the incident, at about 2pm on Saturday two suspects are seen entering the store. They are also seen assaulting the store owner, where he was hit in the face. He was also forced to empty all the cash out of the till and hand it over to them.
The owner of the supermarket, Amimul Islam, said yesterday that he was helping other customers when the suspects entered the store.
“They distracted me by asking the price of one of the items. They then became upset when I advised them that I was unable to accept card payments on a Saturday. One of the suspects closed the door when the customers left and started to intimidate me by accusing me of owing him money. He slammed the table, pointed his finger at me and slapped me in the face. I do not know who he is and do not owe him any money. They continued threatening to shoot me if I did not hand over the money,” Islam said.
He stated that after he handed them the contents of the cash register they insisted that he give them more money. “I told them that was all the money that I had. They warned me that if I phoned the police they would burn down my store.
“Even if I did owe him R20 million, it is not acceptable to make use of Mafia tactics in a democratic country. Some of my customers owe me a lot of money and I have never threatened any of them in this manner. I am a refugee who sought shelter in this country for the past 10 years, where I have been operating an honest business for five years without any incident. I would even describe this as a xenophobic attack.”
Islam added that he feared that he would be targeted again in the future.
“There are people who have since come to the shop to ask certain questions that are making me nervous. I asked around about the identity of the persons who robbed me and found out that one of them is a well-known businessman.
“While I could trade through the burglar bars, I know that it offends some customers – where they feel that I don’t trust them. I refuse to treat anyone as a criminal.”
Police spokesperson
Captain Sergio Kock said that the Kimberley police were investigating a business robbery at a supermarket in Schmidtsdrift Road on Saturday at about 2.10pm.
“Two men allegedly assaulted and forced the shop owner to give them the money from the cash register. The suspects fled but one male suspect was arrested hours later while the police are still searching for the second suspect. The suspect should be appearing in court soon. The investigation continues,” said Kock.