Frustrated over inaction of police on a potentially violent shoplifter, a convenience store owner from Cambridgeshire has slammed the police authorities for protecting "criminality more than it does the businesses", while calling on other retailers to raise their voices and unit against shoplifting and rising retail crime.
Retailer Amit Puntambekar, who runs the Nisa Local in the village of Fenstanton, has said that he is now contemplating "selling the business and leaving retail altogether", after facing high levels of crime, violence and abuse as well as due to complete apathy from the authorities.
Taking to social media, Puntambekar penned down his recent ordeal with a violent shoplifter and the mental trauma that came along with the episode.
He writes, "In January, we banned a prolific shoplifter—someone the police are fully aware of—who they also warned me carries "sharps" (a knife, for the uninitiated like myself).
"After banning the family, his mother came into the store the next morning with a hammer, looking to attack me, muttering, 'I’ll kill him' as captured by our CCTV and microphone. Luckily, I wasn’t in the shop at the time, but my two staff members had to deal with the situation. Despite us using the emergency panic alarm, which we pay a premium for, no police arrived within the stated time frame.
Image posted by Puntambekar on LinkedIN
"This woman then walked around the village looking for me. For the next two weeks, I had to warn my parents to hide their car and be careful when walking in the village. I couldn’t walk around my own village for the next two weeks without wondering if a hammer was going to meet my skull."
Puntambekar went on to state that police have not responded to his pleas.
He adds, "Would you like to know the police response? I didn’t get one. Nobody came to speak to me privately; the best they could do was call the shop to speak with a staff member. A woman with a weapon in both private and public spaces, who threatened to attack me and damage the shop, got nothing more than a quiet one-on-one conversation and minimal support."
Puntambekar took a leap of faith years ago to join retailing and moved to the village. For the next 7.5 years, he didn’t take a proper holiday or a break to relax, he said, adding that he worked around 4,000+ hours a year—more than double the average worker.
Ash’s Shop in Fenstanton went on to win multiple awards, including Tobacco Retailer of the Year award at 2021 Asian Trader Awards.
L-R: Shailesh Solanki, Duncan Cunningham Head of corporate and legal affairs Imperial Tobacco, Amit Puntambekar, Kalpesh Solanki, Rory Bremner
Puntambekar says, "Since January, I’ve been on the fence about whether retail is truly worth it. I went into a dark space, fearful that my parents could be attacked or murdered because some criminal wants to steal meat or cheese."
The retailer is calling on the industry to unite against crime and denormalise shoplifting.
He says, "This is the environment independent retailers operate in. This is the response the police give us. The system doesn’t seem to care if I die or if our business is constantly targeted for theft. It feels like the system protects criminality more than it does the businesses that support their communities. I have lost all faith in the police to protect us and no longer believe that justice exists in our country.
"It is time for us as an industry to stand up and demand better. Our teams shouldn’t have to go to work in fear of assault, knife crime, verbal abuse, spitting, etc. In what modern society have we allowed this to happen? If the same crimes took place elsewhere, there would be more action.
"This is a basic plea, as a retailer and a human being: we must demand more from the government, the police, and the justice system. We must become more organized, from small independents to national chains like Tesco and Morrisons, to eradicate and minimize this issue. We need support and top-down action. How many more people in our sector have to face abusive behaviour and threats against their lives for doing something they are passionate about?"
