A Muslim deli owner said Thursday he thought he was going to die when a bigoted thug attacked him while shouting “I kill Muslims” — one of several hate crimes against Muslims the NYPD is investigating.
“I thought he was going to kill me for sure,” Sarker Haque, a native of Bangladesh who runs the Fatima Food Mart at on 21st Ave. at 23rd Street, told The Post.
“This person came into the store about 1 o’clock and came up to me and said ‘Is everything free?’ I said ‘What are you talking about, this is a store, it is not free’ and he started walking around the store, picking things up and saying ‘Is this free?’” Haque said of the bloody Saturday assault.
At one point, he started looking at newspapers on display — including a copy of The Post that featured news of the San Bernardino terror attacks on the front page.
The married 52-year-old, who has a son and four daughters, said he was drinking a coffee and the thug then got into his face in the Saturday incident.
“He got out in front of me and he look at me. He took a coffee pot and said ‘Is this coffee free?’ I said ‘What are you talking about buddy?’”
The bully — later identified by cops as 55-year-old Piro Kolvani — didn’t answer, Haque said.
“He turned to me, he punched my head, then he say ‘I kill Muslims!’ He knock me on the ground and I hit my head,” he said. Haque said he struggled to his feet and tried to get back behind the counter of the shop he’s operated for 16 years to dial 911, but the suspect attacked again.
“He punched me so many times, he jumped over the counter, and hit me for six or eight minutes. Then he tried to get out but I hold his jacket,” he said.
A customer then walked through the door, took one look at Haque and said “Oh my God you are bleeding!’ I scream ‘call 911!’ and hold the guy with the other customer,” Haque said. “Then a second customer came in, a Greek guy, and he called 911 and the police came and an ambulance.”
Haque was rushed to Mt. Sinai hospital, where he was treated for bruises and cuts.
Despite the harrowing encounter — the first such incident he’d experienced in the 30 years he’s lived in the city — he still called New York a tolerant place.
“This is a great neighborhood, a great city,” he said. Kolvani was busted on a misdemeanor assault charge but police were also investigating it as a possible hate crime, sources said.
Cops are also investigating a pair of incidents on Tuesday and Wednesday in which Muslims were targeted.
On Wednesday about 4:50 p.m. Esraa Abdelhafeez, 21, was waiting at a bus stop on Fort Hamilton Parkway and 86th Street in Bay Ridge when a man approached her, shouted, “I can’t wait for the US to get rid of you trash,” and kicked her in the leg.
A day earlier at 9:40 p.m. a man identified by cops as Robert Murino, 26, walked into the Salt & Pepper Restaurant at 139 West 139th St. and told worker Tahir Mahood, 34, “You’re a Muslim motherf–ka” and then slapped him on the neck. Murino, who was busted on unspecified charges, then picked up a chair and smashed three glass partitions in front of the restaurant, cops said.