A restaurant owner is in distress after his staff arrived at work yesterday morning to find his office ransacked, with cash and alcohol missing.
Harminder Singh, director of Maya Dhaba, an Indian cuisine restaurant located at 281 Victoria Parade, Suva, described the incident as a setback following a successful holiday season.
“I was so happy on Sunday night because we hosted a big event at the restaurant, and then this morning (yesterday) I woke up to the bad news,” said Mr Singh.
“We had closed business at 10pm (Sunday), and when the early staff were opening the restaurant this morning, they noticed that the back door was open.”
Mr Singh explained that the burglars had entered through the back door, ransacked his office, broken into the cash register, and emptied the alcohol cabinet.
Though the exact value of the stolen items is still being assessed, Mr Singh estimated that between $10,000 to $15,000 in cash had been taken.
“All the money generated from a week of earnings is kept in my office to deposit to our business account on Monday. I set aside the cash wages of my employees who do not have accounts just yet, as everyone gets paid on Tuesdays,” he explained.
“This will hinder our operations as I’ll have to figure out how to pay them today.”
Amid a rise in crime reports in the country, Mr Singh is urging local authorities to increase police presence in the upper corridor of Suva and for the public to demonstrate civic pride.
“We are Australian-based and have been operating here since 2007. Our customers here in Fiji are not mostly local, so this incident is a significant setback,” he said.
“It is scary to do business in this country now. Police can’t be everywhere, so it’s important to practice civic pride, be responsible, and look out for each other.”
Police confirmed a report has been lodged at the Totogo station and the investigation into the incident has commenced.