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Customers
were ejected from the Curry Queen restaurant at
106
Mill Road, Cambridge, recently when Immigration Officers swooped on
the restaurant in a large organised raid.
While the
owner of the restaurant has claimed that there had been "no
problem" with illegal workers, the Home Office suggested in a
guarded statement that one arrest was made according to a local newspaper.
The busy
restaurant was entered at around 8.30pm, and diners were asked to
leave immediately, leaving behind them tables of uneaten food. Among
those in the restaurant at the time was a large group of students and
fellows from Magdalene College, taking part in the annual Social and
Political Sciences curry night, which is traditionally held at the
Curry Queen. One third-year student, a veteran of the SPS Curry
described the series of events.
"We had
just taken our seats and ordered drinks when a couple of Police
officers appeared at the top of the stairs. At first we thought
nothing of it and a policeman came over and told us it should only be
a couple of minutes. However, when a waiter tried to come over and
take our order, an officer blocked his way, and he was told in no
uncertain terms to remain standing where he was. The room then began
to fill with immigration officers, at least twelve in total, wearing
heavy looking black armoured uniforms with the Home Office emblem
emblazoned on them. Any initial shred of amusement evaporated at this
point, and we were escorted from the premises, and told that we'd
have to find another curry house."
The owner of
the Curry Queen, who claimed that while officers had been
"looking for illegal workers" and checking papers, there
had, in fact, been "no problem" with these at the
restaurant. He pointed out that the restaurant had reopened the night
after the raid, and was continuing to operate as usual.
A spokesperson
for the Home Office refused to comment on "individual
details", but gave a general statement in which she confirmed
"There was an intelligence-led immigration operation at the
Curry Queen restaurant ... one Bangladeshi national was arrested."
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