A 58-year-old Indian-origin man has lost an eye after he was allegedly attacked with a knife by four masked assailants at his family owned dairy in New Zealand, according to a media report.

Ajit Singh Farrar suffered serious facial and hand injuries when one of four masked assailants went at him with a knife during a lunchtime robbery at his shop in Hamilton, Stuff.co.nz reported.

Farrar was working alone in the dairy on Irvine St on Monday when four hooded and masked men burst through the doors, it said.

He believes that the offenders had been scoping out his dairy for sometime and knew when he would be the only person in the store.

Farrar tried to grab the blade while the other hooded thieves hurled goods inside the suburban store.

“He punched me in the eye, and I tried to take the knife off him. I had pushed the panic button. I am already bleeding but I’m not scared of him,” the report said.

“My eye is very bad, it’s ruptured the eyeball has gone, gone now,” Farrar said on Wednesday.

Life will not be the same for Farrar who was told by doctors at Waikato Hospital that he will need surgery to insert a prosthetic eye following the assault at his Frankton store, the report said.

Waikato Detective Sergeant Scott Neilson confirmed that, “One of the men approached the victim with a knife while the others have tried to get into the rear of the store.

“The man with the knife has then lashed out at the victim causing significant injuries to his face and hands.”

The four then fled the store, likely empty-handed, he said.

“He remembers seeing a knife, he also had a cut to his hand, and lost a few teeth,” Farrar’s daughter said.

With such severe injuries, doctors today told the family of Farrar that his eye was not salvageable. He also needs immediate surgery to stop infection spreading to the other eye.

Police were now looking to identify a group of men captured on CCTV footage in the neighbourhood at the time of the crime.

“We would like to speak to the men identified in the picture who were in the area at the time, and hear from anyone who may have information,” Neilson said.