Met Police breaks silence on arrest of Indian restaurant owner in ‘no halal’ row

The United Kingdom’s Metropolitan Police has addressed the arrest of an Indian-origin restaurant owner whose establishment had become the target of protests over the last few weeks. Harman Singh Kapoor’s decision to not sell halal meat at his London restaurant Rangrez, coupled with his use of offensive language to describe a religious community, has made him the subject of many protests.Harman Singh Kapoor runs the Indian restaurant Rangrez in London with his wife.Last Saturday, Kapoor was briefly detained the Metropolitan Police after protesters gathered outside his restaurant in London. The arrest sparked outrage from a section of the internet that questioned why the restaurateur should have been arrested simply for refusing to sell halal meat.(Also read: Indian restaurant owner arrested in London after protests over his refusal to sell halal meat)In a statement to HT.com, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said that he was arrested over a video that included threats to kill.The videoOn March 14, Kapoor posted an X video where he threatened to kill anyone who harmed his family. He reiterated his claims about being unfairly targeted authorities in London, claiming that the Met Police had done little to protect him.“Everybody knows that I am under severe attack every day some peaceful community. Police help is so far inadequate and me, my family are threatened every day, physically, mentally,” Kapoor said in the video.“This left me no other choice to pick up the arms now. I am going to defend myself and my family myself.“I don’t have trust in Met Police. If anybody wants to encounter me, please be ready to die. I am not afraid to kill you anymore. Don’t come near my family,” he said.Met Police addresses Kapoor’s arrestShortly afterwards, Kapoor was arrested Met Police. Footage shared online shows him being handcuffed and led into a police van.“At around 13:30hrs on Saturday, 14 March officers arrested a 54-year-old man on suspicion of malicious communication after attending a restaurant in Fulham Palace Road, W6,” a spokesperson for Metropolitan Police told HT.com in an emailed statement.”The arrest was in relation to a video posted on social media that included references to threats to kill. Further enquiries are ongoing. The suspect has been bailed pending further enquiries,” the statement added.Kapoor’s social media activity confirms he was released soon after being arrested.“All I did was protect my family, yet I was the one arrested. Instead of protecting us, the police targeted my religion — my Sikh faith and my beliefs. This is deeply troubling,” he said in one X post after being released.The ‘no halal’ rowKapoor’s run-ins with protesters gained wider attention in February 2026, when he shared an X post claiming that he had been forced to shut Rangrez — the restaurant he ran for 16 years — due to “ongoing online harassment, repeated durbances and attacks Pakanis and a lack of proper support from the Met Police.”A few days later, he posted a new video showing himself in a heated confrontation with protesters outside his restaurant. Kapoor said they were protesting against a sign posted outside his restaurant where he declared “We don’t serve halal”.