LONDON – An Indian immigrant with a penchant for brazen criminality was arrested for a shocking daylight robbery at a unassuming post office in the placid west London neighborhood of Hounslow last week, authorities say.
Rajvinder Kahlon, 41, stands accused of barging into the Brabazon Road Post Office around 6 p.m. on April 1st and taking an entire community hostage with fear and violence. Witnesses say the Punjab-born suspect threatened two clerks with what appeared to be a firearm before helping himself to a bungled bonanza of cash.
“One minute I’m just posting a letter, the next there’s this bloke waving a gun in my face screaming ‘NOBODY MOVE!'” recalled a shaken Richard Burgess, 72, one of several customers caught in the crosshairs. “Terror just isn’t something you expect on a Sunday stroll to the post box.”
In scenes more reminiscent of a heist film than a lazy spring evening, Kahlon allegedly made off with a “large quantity” of pilfered pounds before slipping into a getaway car idling outside. The Flying Squad descended in a furor of flashing blues, but the suspect had already vanished into the urban ether.
Through what police termed “good old-fashioned detective work” and perhaps a hint of luck, investigators were able to quickly locate and apprehend the accused within a matter of days. Kahlon was arrested at his Hounslow flat on April 4th.
After being formally charged with robbery and possession of an imitation firearm, the Indian national made his first court appearance at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court this past Saturday. He was remanded into custody ahead of a follow-up hearing next month at Isleworth Crown Court on May 6th.
The stunning criminal caper marks just the latest black eye for London’s South Asian diaspora after a series of high-profile busts involving suspects of Indian origin. Indeed, the incident follows on the heels of a massive cocaine trafficking case that resulted in the conviction of an Indian couple earlier this year.
Nairobi-born British resident Arti Dhir, 59, whose family emigrated from Punjab, was found guilty along with her 35-year-old husband Kavaljitsinh Raijada of smuggling over 1,100 pounds of cocaine worth tens of millions from the UK to Australia. Authorities say the drug ring attempted to conceal the narcotics inside metal toolboxes shipped by airfreight.
While only representing a small percentage of the overall offender population, the two cases underscore a seeming pattern of brazen lawlessness that has some calling for a crackdown on vetting and tighter border security protocols. With perpetrators seemingly going to greater extremes, enforcement agencies are being tested.
Back in Hounslow, a Tamil family who asked not to be named expressed a mix of shock, fear and embarrassment over their neighborhood’s improbable newsworthiness.
“We’ve lived here over 20 years and never had a spot of trouble before this nonsense,” the patriarch said, shaking his head. “One idiot gets a wild hair and before you know it, the whole community gets branded with suspicion.”
He gestured to a police car still keeping vigil down the street in the aftermath of the robbery. “Mark my words, that fella’s actions will have consequences for all of us for a long time coming.”
For the overwhelmingly hard-working and upstanding Indian immigrant population concentrated in several suburban London enclaves, the spotlight of criminality is an unwanted development after decades of seamless assimilation into British society.
The swift response from Scotland Yard may quell some concerns over public safety. But cries for crackdowns and tighter restrictions could intensify unless the pattern of outlier offenses is reversed. An uneventful walk to the post office may never be viewed the same again.
