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 the Mississauga man bought the Neighbourhood Mini-Mart at Kingston R.d and Elmer Ave. in The Beaches area of Toronto, 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 has 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 Toronto Police Service 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."
Originally from Afghanistan and of the Hindu faith, Muthreja said that he came to Canada in 1989 for a simpler life. He plans on closing down his shop by the end of this month.
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.
onlinenews@mississauga.net
