A TERRIFIED shopkeeper has fallen victim to a spate of thefts and threats from a gang in Brentford.
Amrik Nagbal, 55, who works at Costcutter in Brentford High Street, said the latest incident involving 15 white men, aged between 25 to 30, happened on Saturday.
He said: “A group of men came in and took a bottle of wine, a bottle of beer and some crisps. It’s not much, but there is nothing I can do to stop them and it's not the first time they have come in.
“They go into the shop next door too and just take what they want and the police seem not to care. I’m very worried that they will attack me or my colleague, they have threatened to before but I pressed the alarm buzzer just in time.”
Mr Nagbal moved to Harrow from Afghanistan and has worked in the shop for five years and said the gang began coming into the shop months ago.
He said he didn’t believe the attacks towards him and his colleague, Jagmonhn Singh, were racially motivated.
He added: “They come in again and again and just cause trouble, we call the police who come in and look at the CCTV then they do nothing for us. We just have to sit and wait in the shop while we try and do our job and hope they won't physically attack us.”
Ebeid Elkyeam, Syon Safer Neighbourhood Team police community support officer, said: “I have discussed the matter with both Mr Nagpal and Mr Batra [another worker] and listened to their concerns. We have also discussed how we can work together to solve the problem.”
Inspector John Partington, Brentford, Isleworth and Chiswick Safer Neighbourhood Teams, said: “The local neighbourhood team are aware of this matter and met with the shop owner to discuss how we can help deal with the problems he is having.”
