Pakistani pair held in Wellington immigration raid
Two men found to have overstayed their visas are to be deported back to Pakistan after a raid by police on a flat in Wellington.
Officers and UK Border Agency officials burst into the property, above the Taj Mahal Indian restaurant in Bridge Road yesterday morning.
The pair must now report regularly to the Home Office while arrangements are made to remove them from the UK.
Immigration officer Kelvin Thomas, of the UK Border Agency, said: "Acting on intelligence, officers from immigration enforcement and Shropshire police visited a residential address in Bridge Road, Wellington.
"Immigration checks found that two Pakistani men at the address – aged 29 and 23 – had overstayed student visas and had no permission to be in the UK.
"We are working hard to identify, arrest and remove people who are abusing the UK's immigration system.
"All of our operations are intelligence-led and information from the public is a vital part of this work. I would encourage people with detailed and specific information about illegal immigration to contact us."
Ataf Mehmood, the owner of the Taj Mahal, said the raid was not connected to his business despite claims and reports circulating on social media.
He said: "I am the leaseholder of the business downstairs, there are two flats upstairs which are owned by a different landlord that I don't know.
"It is nothing to do with me, I am the CEO of the business downstairs the Taj Mahal.
"I had a text message saying police entered my business – but it was not my business, it was the flats upstairs."
