Kunal Sharma was fixing the air hose under the twilight sky when he heard his wife screaming for him from inside the petrol station he manages in Whangarei.
Two people seemingly in their teens had entered the gas station at about 5pm on April 10, 2023, brandishing knives, and were attempting to grab tobacco products from the store in the suburb of Tikipunga.
Sharma says his wife had seen a car speed past by the window, prompting her to push the panic button but she inadvertently opened the main door to the facility.
"Two youths, probably in their teenage, brandished knives in an attempt to steal tobacco from our gas station. Luckily my wife ran to the back room and locked herself in for safety. It was life-threatening as the culprits were very aggressive, and we could have lost our lives," says Sharma, who moved to New Zealand from Mumbai about 11 years ago.
No arrests had been made as of the evening of April 12. The couple had shifted to the city, less than three hours’ drive north of Auckland, only about a week back to manage GAS Tikipunga.
“I regret moving to Tikipunga from Coopers Beach, Mangonui for a better life. My wife and I came to NZ for a better life, but now we feel that India is much safer. This job is not worth the risk of losing my loved ones and me," says Sharma, who has two children aged four and eight years.
He says two more thieves carrying knives were guarding the door during the robbery. An eyewitness said the two were harassing people who rushed to help from a nearby Countdown store.
The robbers reportedly ran in and out of the gas station before finally scooting off, and one of them was standing outside waving his arms intimidating people. One of the perpetrators reportedly left the gas station holding a basket full of cigarettes.
Sharma says the gas station management has decided to stop selling tobacco products following the incident. He described the robbers as audacious and having a lot of power. He recounted how he tried to protect his wife during the incident, but the robbers chased him with a knife as he pleaded with them to spare his wife.
"This incident has shocked me beyond words, and my wife and I have been thinking whether we should resign and move back from Tikipunga It's a shame on this government that such incidents are happening daily,” says Sharma.
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