'It's not about how good the curry is': Popular Indian restaurant loses licence after immigration raid

Jilabi in Sheldon, near Birmingham, has had its alcohol licence stripped permanently by Birmingham City Council after a raid at the restaurant.

A licensing sub-committee heard how a tip-off led to police and immigration officials swooping on the premises in Coventry Road at around 8pm on November 23.

Five men tried to run out of the back door but waiting police officers ushered them back inside the restaurant.

Three Bangladeshi men were ultimately arrested, with the longest offender having been in the country illegally since 2010.

Inspectors were later told that up to ten more men had removed their staff clothing and blended in with customers to avoid detection, although investigators could not confirm the allegations.

Police also found that CCTV was not installed, in breach of the restaurant’s licence, and that staff training was not up to standard.

All three immigrants have since been returned, or are due to be returned, to their home country.

'Not about the curry'

Addressing the committee Pc Abdool Rohomon, West Midlands Police licensing officer, said: “This is not about how well they are run, how good the curry is and how popular they are.

“It is a very popular place there are pictures of the Home Secretary having been there, I’m sure he’d love that now.”

He added: “You instil upon them trust and they have to comply. The trust has totally been eroded by their actions.”

Around a dozen customers had written to Birmingham City Council in support of the restaurant calling for the sanction to be lifted.

One claimed that Home Secretary Sajid Javid was a regular.

The MP for Bromsgrove was photographed at Jilabi in August and the venue later renamed its Railway Lamb Curry to Sajid’s Railway Lamb in honour of the visit, according to a post on its Facebook page.

Other high-profile customers have also frequented the venue in recent months.

A Facebook post in October pictured Midsomer Murders actor Jason Hughes saying he had joined the ‘Jilabi Club of fame’ while another stated Watford FC captain and Birmingham City fan Troy Deeney was a weekly regular.

Jilabi opened in 2002 and expanded into the former Chinese restaurant next door in 2014.

Apology

Abdul Rouf, one of the joint licence holders at the premises, claimed two of the immigrants had started a trial period the day before the police raid and that he had delegated responsibility for checking their paperwork because he had taken a day off at short notice.

He admitted that the third man had been there around two weeks and they had only seen his driving licence.

Mr Rouf pointed out that since the inspection he had hired an administrator to help with checks and paperwork, installed CCTV and updated staff training.

He said: “I apologise profusely. I am sorry for having to bring everybody here.

“I’m responsible for everything that went on and going forward I have taken on board our mistakes. They happened inadvertently and I want to reassure that nothing of this nature or any other mishap will occur under my watch.”

Mr Rouf confirmed he would have to lay off a number of staff due to the licence revocation – the strongest sanction available to the council.

He added: “I have let myself down, my customers down and the environment around me down.”

By Carl Jackson, Local Democracy Reporter