DIM-WITTED thugs armed with knives used the line “this is a f*****g hold-up” during a raid on a newsagents.

But the shopkeeper recognised the two from the day before when they attempted to buy cigarettes - they had been declined because the shop does not take contactless.

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Mohammad Malik said he knew the two teenagers who held his shop up on Wednesday, April 14.

He claims the two boys screamed: “This is a hold up,” during the robbery.

Mohammad has described the shocking robbery which occurred in his Celtic Street shop on Wednesday, April 14.

The two masked robbers entered TS Newsagents at 12.50pm armed with kitchen knives.

Mohammad says he recognised them as having come in the day before to buy cigarettes.

One then said: “This is a hold up.”

On the phone to his brother at the time, the 47-year-old shopkeeper said: “This isn’t a joke,” thinking the men were not being serious.

That changed when one jumped on the counter, shouting: “This is a f*****g hold up.”

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Mohammad fell back to the floor and the till opened.

The attackers grabbed whatever cash they could get their hands on and cigarettes and fled the shop.

The shopkeeper said he considered chasing the criminals but decided against it, instead phoning the police and waiting for them to arrive.

Mohammad has kept elderly customers stocked up during the lockdown with food deliveries organised to their doors.

He has ran the TS Newsagents on Celtic Street, near the train station since 2004 and is according to one woman, a “man of the community”.

Posting to a local community Facebook group, the woman wrote: “This is a gentleman who has kept his shop opened doing deliveries to his older customers by himself.

“Because he is a man of the community he was threatened and robbed.

“This is NOT the Maryhill and I know it’s not yours.”

PC Andy Reid of Greater Glasgow Community Investigation Unit said: “Although the shopkeeper was not physically injured in this incident, it was a very frightening experience for him.

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“I am appealing for anyone who may have been in the area of Maryhill Road close to Celtic Street or within Maryhill Park shortly before or after the incident and may have noticed any persons matching the description in the area to contact police.”

Anyone with information should contact police on 101 quoting incident number 1476 of April 14.

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