New Zealand Dairy-Owner Loses Eye After Robbery Attempt

Life will not be the same for Ajit Singh Farrar who lost an eye when four masked assailants attacked him during a robbery attempt at Hamilton in New Zealand. The 58-year-old Indian-origin man was attacked with a knife by miscreants who attempted to rob his family-owned dairy earlier this week.

Farrar’s facial and hand injuries were caused by one of the four masked assailants, who attacked him during lunchtime at his dairy at Irvine Street on Nov. 27, Stuff.co.nz reported. Farrar was working alone at the dairy when the men, who were wearing hoodies, burst through the doors.

Farrar believes that the assailants had been keeping a tab on the dairy for some time as they entered at a time when they knew he would be alone at the store. “One of the men approached the victim with a knife while others tried to get into the rear of the store. The man with the knife then lashed out at the victim causing significant injuries to his face and hands,” Waikato Detective Sergeant Scott Neilson said.

Farrar tried to take the blade away from the assailant while the other robbers hurled goods inside the store. “He punched me in the eye, and I tried to take the knife off him. I had pushed the panic button, I am already bleeding but I’m not scared of him,” Farrar was reported as saying. “My eye is very bad, it’s ruptured… the eyeball has gone, gone now,” he added. Doctors at the Waikato Hospital said Farrar will need surgery to insert a prosthetic eye.

After attacking Farrar, the four fled the store empty handed.
The police are looking to identify the men from the CCTV footage in the neighborhood.

“We would like to speak to the men identified in the picture who were in the area at the time, and hear from anyone who may have information,” Neilson said.

Farrar has been running the shop for 27 years and this was not the first time robbery was attempted at the store. Farrar’s daughters were held at knifepoint while working at the store a few years ago.