Moghul Durbar restaurant attack: Police renew plea for calm

Police have reiterated a call for calm as they investigate a series of attacks on businesses close to the scene of a rampage at a restaurant.

Four shops in Green Lane Road, a few hundred yards from the Moghul Durbar restaurant, in Spinney Hills, Leicester, were targeted at about 3am yesterday.

Takeaway Doner Express, Yahya Halal Butcher, Green's DIY and clothing trader Amrina Trimmings were all damaged in the early hours of yesterday.

Traders arrived at work to find their doors and windows had been smashed. A number of nearby cars had also been damaged.

It comes after a mob of 40 men burst into the Moghul Durbar restaurant on Monday evening, hospitalising three men and injuring a handful of diners.

Chief Superintendent Rob Nixon yesterday repeated the call for calm, amid fears of further attacks in the area.

Police said they were not ruling out the possibility the incidents were linked.

Sanju Singh, owner of Amrina Trimmings, said: "It's just mindless vandalism.

"I got to work this morning and found my window had been smashed so I boarded it up – you've just to get on with it."

Mukesh Chauhan, owner of Regent Shoe Repairs, next door to the damaged Halal butcher's shop, said: "My dad started this shop 40 years ago and didn't even lock the door some nights. It was safe then.

"Now, we're getting these attacks on the restaurant. Who would do that?

"Things have changed a lot since my dad's day."

Police said they had increased foot patrols in the area in response to the recent disorder.

Another trader, who asked not to be named, said: "First there was the trouble round the corner at the restaurant and now this. It's getting out of control.

"I can't remember the last time we had trouble before this – and I've noticed an increase in police, but who knows how long that will last?"

A spokeswoman said that officers had attended the scenes, spoken to the victims, carried out house-to-house inquiries and were looking at CCTV footage.

She said: "There is nothing, at this stage, to suggest that this is linked to the incident in East Park Road on Monday.

"However, officers are looking at this as a line of inquiry and have increased patrols in the area."

In a meeting with faith leaders on Wednesday, Chief Supt Nixon discussed ways to prevent the situation from becoming inflamed and played down claims that Monday's mob rampage was religiously motivated.

He said: "I think the main point we reached was that we are not treating this as an interfaith issue.

"This is not faith-related, it is a matter of criminality."

Chief Supt Nixon said false rumours had fuelled Monday's apparently orchestrated vigilante action.

"These rumours are not true," he said.

"Firstly, a rumour that a Sikh girl has been raped and police have done nothing, despite being in possession of video evidence of that rape.

"This is not true. Reports that a Sikh girl has been snatched from outside a Gurdwara in Leicester are also false."

Detectives had until 11pm last night to quiz seven men, all in their 20s, arrested in connection with the attack at the Moghul Durbar on Monday.

• Six men have been charged over the restaurant attack and are due to appear at Leicester Magistrates Court today (Friday, January 18)

Six men charged over Moghul Durbar restaurant attack