A young Indian chef’s middle and ring fingers of his right hand were severed by a man in a shocking highway attack near Otahuhu on Friday at 1:30 pm.
Gagon Dhamijaa, a 38-year-old chef, was driving to Otahuhu on 23 August 2024 to purchase a second-hand car when the incident occurred. Taking his usual route along Great South Road and sticking to the speed limit of 50 km/h, he heard a car honking “aggressively” behind him.
“I thought the car behind me was in a hurry, so I gave him a way to pass,” Dhamijaa shared.
After the car passed him and moved ahead onto the two-lane highway, it abruptly swerved in front of him, forcing Dhamijaa to bring his own vehicle to a halt. What happened next was something he never could have anticipated.
“As soon as I stopped, a well-built man stormed out of his car wielding a large knife-like object,” Dhamijaa recounted to The Indian Weekender.
Without any apparent provocation, the attacker approached Dhamijaa and said, “You just wait. I’ll tell you,” before launching into a brutal assault.
In a desperate attempt to defend himself while still seated in his car, Dhamijaa raised his right hand, trying to block the man from aiming for his chest. The assailant slashed down, severing Dhamijaa’s middle and ring fingers.
“He severed my right and middle fingers as I yelled for help,” Dhamijaa said.
Despite the terrifying ordeal, Dhamijaa is certain that he hadn’t exchanged words or had any kind of altercation with the attacker prior to the incident. However, he believes that the attacker was under the influence of drugs.
“His eyes were red, and he was filled with rage. It took him only 10-15 seconds to attack me—it all happened so fast,” Dhamijaa recalled.
Within moments, the police arrived at the scene. One police vehicle attended to Dhamijaa, while another pursued the attacker’s car and managed to apprehend him, according to Dhamijaa’s account.
The Indian Weekender approached the police for an official statement regarding the incident.
Police say they have arrested a 30-year-old man after the incident.
“At around 1.30pm, we received a report that a person had been injured on Bairds Road.
They had suffered an injury that was consistent with a stab wound and were transported to hospital in a moderate condition,” the police said.
Police tracked a vehicle of interest in relation to this incident to an address on Church Road in Ōtāhuhu.
“A 30-year-old man was arrested without incident at the address and charged with failing to stop and wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm.”
He is due to appear in Manukau District Court today.
“Police are not seeking anyone else in relation to this matter and are unable to provide further comment as the matter is before the court,” The Police said in an official statement.
Dhamijaa was immediately transported to Middlemore Hospital, where plastic surgeons operated to reattach his severed fingers.
“The doctors have reattached my fingers, but they’ve told me it will take 18 months for me to fully recover and regain full use of them,” Dhamijaa said.
“How will I work now? I am a chef,” he said.
Dhamijaa, who moved to Auckland from Delhi last year, with his wife and son who moved with him just last month, shared that his family is still in shock. Having recently lost his mother in June, he was preparing to return to work in September.
"How will I support my family now?"
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