Owner blames his bad luck for spate of incidents

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Kishore Muthreja just can't take it anymore.

In less than a week, the local convenience store owner was robbed twice by what he believes are the same four masked thugs.

And that's just recently.

In the last three or so years since he bought the Neighbourhood Mini-Mart at Kingston Road and Elmer Avenue, Muthreja's been hit about 10 times by thieves.

"I can't stay here. I'm just getting hurt. I can't take anything more physically," said the 61-year-old, who was recently manning his shop with a black eye and knife puncture wounds to the right torso from his latest robbery.

"I can't risk my life."

Muthreja, a former Toronto daily ad sales representative, used to have his wife Reena help out at the shop until she too was robbed and assaulted about three months ago. Since then he hasn't felt safe enough to have her keep shop unless it's just for a brief time while he runs a few errands during the day.

"I told her to stay home rather than come in here," he said.

Muthreja, who lives in Mississauga, said he's been trying to sell his business for the last six months but has had no takers, especially because of the numerous robberies and break-and-enters he's experienced.

"There's no response, no offers. We have to disclose everything or its fraud," he said.

Muthreja said he's contacted police many times about the crimes but that no one has been apprehended.

"The police are just advising me to shut my doors for six hours but that means loss of business," he said, adding his video surveillance system was also damaged several times and the costly repairs are getting to be a bit too much to bother with.

Const. Rob Macdonald of 55 Division's community response unit said he hasn't seen a shop owner victimized that many times in his policing career.

"It's very unfortunate. They did take some precautions and they weren't as successful as the owner would have liked," he said, reminding other shopkeepers to be extra cautious so they don't become victims.

"We did have some success with some of (Muthreja's) incidents but not all of them. I appreciate that it's difficult for small business owners."

Macdonald said business owners are more than welcome to invite the police to their store for a free safety review.

At this point, Muthreja just wants to liquidate his inventory, which includes a significant quantity of British sundries, as well as the store's freezers, fridges and shelving.

He plans on closing down his shop by the end of this month.

Originally from Afghanistan and of the Hindu faith, Muthreja said that he came to Canada in 1989 for a simpler life.

"Everything is complicated in this country now. We had a hard time over there too," he said.

Despite everything that has happened, Muthreja said he believes that bad things sometimes just happen.

"I'm not blaming anyone. I'm blaming my luck. We don't know what we're going to do," he said, adding he's met a lot of good people who come into his shop.

Dave, who did not wish to give his last name, is a nearby resident who regularly patronizes the Neighbourhood Mini-Mart.

"They're very nice people. This really bugs me," he said, noting the incidents always seem to happen just minutes before or after he's out of the area.

"It's sad. It's not right. This guy has really helped me out too."