Couple tell of fear at hands of gunmen

May 24 2009 by Coreena Ford and Lisa Hutchinson

A COUPLE have told of their terror as armed robbers dressed as commandos stormed their shop demanding cash.

Two raiders, dressed in Army camouflage gear and balaclavas, brandished hand guns as they burst into the Costcutter store in Flint Hill, near Dipton, County Durham.

Within minutes, the pair had taken the contents of the cash register and sped away in a dark car.

Last night, as cops were hunting the culprits, shop owners Kanagasabai Kulenthiran – known as Kulen – and his wife Savithri told how they opened the shop as usual the next day, determined not to be beaten by the armed thugs.

Savithri said: “I was shaky when it happened but I decided we should open the shop, I had to face them.

“The longer you leave it the harder it gets to face things, so I had to go for it.”

The shop had not long closed last Friday when the raiders struck at around 7pm, thumping on the locked door and demanding the lone shop assistant open up. Savithri was in the flat upstairs, unaware of the nightmare unfolding below.

As one robber guarded the shop door, another pointed a gun at the petrified worker, who we have not named, ordered her to open the till, then reached over and grabbed a pile of notes.

Fifty three-year-old Savithri said: “I heard someone shouting so I came down. They were in a car right outside the shop, and it quickly drove away.

“Our shop assistant said ‘I’m sorry, they’ve taken all the money’ but they only left with £185 because we never keep the money here, so we didn’t have many notes. I was more worried for her.”

Still shaking, the two women called 999 and raised the alarm.