Police delays killed my husband, says Kiwi-Indian liquor store owner’s widow

AUCKLAND - The widow of murdered Indian-origin south Auckland liquor store owner Navtej Singh reckons that the delay in police action led to her husband’s death, and she is demanding answers over their actions.

During the 2008 robbery, Harjinder Kaur comforted her fatally wounded husband in their Manurewa store as police waited outside for 26 minutes, despite 111 staff having been assured the armed robbers had fled.

“I’m still very angry with the police. I just can’t understand why they took so long. I don’t believe any New Zealand citizen should be treated like that. The police did not do enough to save Navtej,” the New Zealand Herald quoted Kaur, as saying.

The Singh family have filed a complaint with the Independent Police Conduct Authority over the police delays.

An IPCA spokesman said the report was finished, but could not be released for at least another 30 days, until the appeal period for Chan Kee’s conviction expired.

Police have defended the delay in helping Singh, saying it was an armed situation and best-practice procedures - including waiting at a safe point - had to be followed.

However, sources said that a squad car carrying firearms to the crime scene took the wrong set of keys to unlock the weapons cache. Officers had to wait for someone to rush back to get the correct keys.

Meanwhile, one of the six men accused of Singh’s murder, Anitelea Chan Kee, 22, has been found guilty by the Auckland High Court.

The other five were found not guilty of murder or manslaughter but were found guilty, or pleaded guilty, to aggravated robbery.

Kaur is shocked the five were acquitted over the murder charges. (ANI)