The owner of a west London Indian restaurant says he was held by the Metropolitan Police for nearly 24 hours after defending his family from an attack on his premises — while the man who allegedly assaulted his daughter, spat on his wife and smashed his restaurant’s front door walked free.
Kapoor, who runs Rangrez restaurant in Hammersmith, was released without charge on 10 May 2026 following his detention. He had been arrested, he says, for defending his family during the incident. In a post on X that has since been viewed more than 682,000 times, he wrote: “The person who attacked my daughter, spat on my wife, and broke the restaurant’s front door was not arrested by @metpoliceuk. Why? I was arrested again for defending my family.” He accompanied the post with photographs of the suspect’s SUV.
Kapoor has announced plans to sue both the Metropolitan Police and Mayor Sadiq Khan, alleging what he describes as “unfair and continuous discriminatory treatment” linked to his Sikh faith and his restaurant’s non-halal policy. He has rejected offers of crowdfunding support, instead urging his followers to show their backing by dining at Rangrez.
The restaurant has operated for approximately 16 years but became a significant flashpoint after Kapoor publicly declared it “Proudly non-halal,” serving jhatka meat in accordance with Sikh tradition. The declaration triggered what he describes as months of harassment, online abuse, protests, and death and rape threats. In the early months of 2026, crowds gathered outside the restaurant on multiple occasions, and Kapoor was previously arrested during disturbances before subsequently announcing the restaurant’s permanent closure, citing rising costs, repeated attacks and what he characterised as a lack of proper support from the Metropolitan Police. The restaurant has since continued to operate.
The latest incident has reignited fierce debate about policing standards in London, with supporters of Kapoor accusing the Met of operating a two-tier system — moving swiftly to detain a business owner for self-defence while declining to arrest an alleged aggressor. Critics of Kapoor, however, point to his vocal and at times inflammatory social media presence, including posts using language some have described as deliberately provocative toward Muslim communities, and argue that his high-profile activism has significantly escalated what might otherwise have remained a straightforward dispute over menu choices.
The Metropolitan Police has not publicly detailed its reasons for arresting Kapoor or explained why the alleged attacker was not detained. The identity of the suspect seen in the SUV photographs shared on X has not been confirmed by authorities.
The case has become the latest flashpoint in a broader national conversation about integration, free speech, religious dietary traditions and the consistency of policing in London — a conversation that shows little sign of cooling.
