Waiter had thumb '˜bitten by chef' in '˜takeaway brawl'

AN INVESTIGATION has been opened by police after a man claimed he was assaulted by a chef at a restaurant when he went to collect a pay cheque.
Abdul Gofur, 23, left, says he was bitten on the thumb by a chef at Sea of Spice restaurant in Fareham. 
Shabbir Hussain, his friend and a waiter at the restaurant, was with him.Abdul Gofur, 23, left, says he was bitten on the thumb by a chef at Sea of Spice restaurant in Fareham. 
Shabbir Hussain, his friend and a waiter at the restaurant, was with him.
Abdul Gofur, 23, left, says he was bitten on the thumb by a chef at Sea of Spice restaurant in Fareham. Shabbir Hussain, his friend and a waiter at the restaurant, was with him.

Abdul Gofur, 23, from Gosport said a chef at Sea of Spice in West Street, Fareham bit his thumb and punched him in the face during a confrontation in the Indian restaurant.

Mr Gofur was a waiter at the restaurant until a week before the incident and had gone in with friend and fellow waiter, Shabbir Hussain to collect £280 in wages.

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He claimed that after the manager declined to give him the money, he was then assaulted by a chef at the restaurant.

Abdul Gofur's injured thumbAbdul Gofur's injured thumb
Abdul Gofur's injured thumb

He said: ‘I went in to ask for the wages but the owner turned me away.

‘I told him that I was not going to leave until I was paid and then one of the chefs came over and started squaring up to me.

‘He was swearing at me and then all of a sudden, he bit me on the thumb and starting hitting me. I remember being hit in the head and it all just being a blur. We managed to get ourselves out of there but it can’t have lasted longer then 30 seconds.’

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Mr Hussain, 25, from Fareham said: ‘I was just trying to get him out of there, it was crazy. He was being punched. We were in shock for a while afterwards and then we called the police.’

Abdul Gofur's injured thumbAbdul Gofur's injured thumb
Abdul Gofur's injured thumb

After calling the police, Mr Gofur then went to Gosport War Memorial Hospital before being sent over to the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham to deal with the thumb injury he sustained.

A spokesman for Hampshire Constabulary said: ‘We received a call at 7.09pm to a report of an assault on two men that took place at an address in West Street, Fareham.

‘One of the men attended Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth for treatment to an injury in his right hand and thumb. No arrests have been made at this stage.’

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However, Ahmed Dulal, the manager of the restaurant has denied that the brawl, which would have happened during business hours, occurred at all.

He said: ‘He came into the restaurant to collect his wages but I told him we would pay him his wages next week.

‘From what I understand, he then left the restaurant and that was that, there was no brawl.’

Anyone with any information that can aid the police’s investigation is asked to call 101, quoting 44160471361.