HEAVY HANDED

Takeaway owner blasts raid by 14 Home Office enforcement officers when all his staff were in country legally

- MOIRA KERR

A TAKEAWAY owner says he is being forced out of business after a Home Office raid where three of his staff were arrested and then "de-arrested" hours later.

Shaukat Chaudhry told how his workers were left in fear by the raid which saw 14 Home Office enforcement officers storming the premises on a busy Friday.

The unannounced raid, searching for illegal immigrants, saw four staff members interrogated and searched, before being taken to a waiting van.

The men, from Pakistan, all have the legally required visas and permits to work at Kebabish in Oban.

The Home Office admitted three of the four had been "de-arrested" while a fourth had been released on bail - despite having the right paperwork to live and work here.

Shadow Scottish Secretary Ian Murray demanded a Home Office probe into the raid, which he called "heavy handed".

Mr Chaudhry, 55, who came to Oban in 2007, said this is the second time he has been raided despite his foreign-born staff having the right to live and work in the UK. He told the Daily Record: "I am planning to leave Oban. There is no place left for me and my staff are so terrified they don't want to work here."

A fifth member, working when the raid took place on September 8, had a British passport, so was not taken for further questioning but Mr Chaudhry said: "Our five staff were treated very disrespectfully.

"After more than one hour of interrogation they arrested four and took them to the police station. They released three of them turn by turn up till 11pm and took one to Dungavel detention centre."