In a daring daylight robbery in Suva, petrified staff at Anita Jewellers witnessed three men smash showcase glasses, steal expensive gold jewelry, and escape in a getaway car, leaving behind two injured workers. The incident took place on February 21, 1999, according to The Fiji Times.
Despite Cumming Street being full of shoppers at 10:30 AM, only two men attempted to intervene. One was punched in the chest while the other was threatened by a fourth accomplice wielding a broken beer bottle. The stolen jewelry, valued at more than $50,000, included heavy bangles, pendants, earrings, and mangal sutra, all of which were insured.
Sales assistant Nalini Singh recounted that three masked men armed with screwdrivers entered the store, blending in like regular customers. “They just walked in like any other customer. I looked up when I heard one of them say, ‘Don’t move,’” Mrs. Singh said. She described how one man attacked the security guard while another smashed the display cases, seizing trays of bangles, earrings, and pendants. The third assailant jumped over the counter, breaking the glass to take mangal sutra.
While this was happening, customers fled to the back office, and four sales assistants crouched behind a counter. A piece of glass from the shattered display injured employee Shamila Devi, who was taken to the hospital with non-serious injuries.
Mrs. Singh recalled, “One of the men said to me, ‘Don’t move, don’t move,’ but I was panicking and walking up and down the aisle behind the counter. I was so close to one of them that when I looked in his eyes, I became even more frightened.”
The robbery was over in less than a minute. Outside, neighboring shopkeepers who saw the masked men enter the shop began calling the police, and some drivers honked their horns, attracting a large crowd. The driver of the getaway car threw beer bottles at the crowd as the three robbers exited the store and escaped towards Waimanu Road.
Police spokesperson Sergeant Ambhika Sharma reported that the getaway car, a grey station wagon with registration number E5484, was parked to block other vehicles from passing. He noted an increase in criminal activity since February 19, 1999, with several incidents possibly linked to this robbery.
Earlier that morning, a vehicle with stolen plates and four masked men was abandoned on Brown Street, Toorak, after being disturbed. On the same morning at 4:30 AM, four men used crowbars to rob the BP Marine gas station, taking $890 and other items worth $1000. Later that day, two men stole $8100 from a pay clerk outside South Seas Engineering at Walu Bay, both incidents involving stolen cars and plates.
Anita Jewellers Suva manager Dilip Jogia noted suspicious characters in the shop earlier in the week and believed the robbers knew exactly what to take. He announced plans to increase security and called for more police patrols along Cumming Street. Jogia also expressed frustration at being placed in a queue when he called emergency services twice to report the crime. He estimated a loss of about $8000 in business due to the robbery and worried about potential increases in insurance premiums.
In response to the robberies, police set up checkpoints around the greater Suva area.