Poppadumb!

A Free Press investigation into a dramatic raid at the Misbah Tandoori restaurant on Priory Street can confirm that three Asian men have been detained by police on charges of working there illegally.

Police bhaji-ed into the small town-centre takeaway (pictured left) on the evening of Monday, February 6, where they arrested two Bangladeshi men and one Indian man.

The trio were detained pending further action, and one has since been removed from the country - and the other two could yet meet with the same fate.

The three men were all workers at the Misbah Tandoori, a family-run Bangladeshi restaurant with a good local reputation in Monmouth. Previously, it has been listed in the Good Curry Guide as one of the top 100 curry houses in the UK.

But a spokesman at the Home Office in London revealed this week that three of its workers had indeed been targeted by the UK Immigration Service and arrested on illegal working charges.

One customer reported how she was turned away by police on the night when she tried to enter the restaurant.

Another passing eyewitness said she saw several vans, and watched as the police loaded men into a police van.

The Home Office confirmed: "The UK Immigration Service carried out an intelligence-led operation in Monmouth on February 6, targeting immigration offenders.

The owner of the Misbah Tandoori, Dul Miah, first opened up shop in Monmouth in 1990.

Since then, he has expanded the venue and added a 100-seater function room.

He explained his surprise and frustration at how the police had shown up and turned his customers away, while those who had ordered takeaways to be collected at 6pm were unable to do so.

But, since the incident, Mr Miah has recruited new staff to replace the three arrested men and believes the problem to be over.

The dramatic operation was undertaken by the Immigration Service and led by PC Benjamin - who presumably took a naan-naan-naan emergency call.

PC Benjamin is a South Wales Police officer temporarily seconded to the Home Office department.

Local Gwent Police were not involved in the investigation, although an officer at Monmouth police station confirmed they had been informed about the organised operation on their patch on the morning of the raid.

The Home Office spokesman added that this was "a good example of a police and Immigration Service partnership operation, such as those carried out across the country, to deal with the issue of illegal immigration".