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London Tube bombing suspect 'arrested by undercover policeman dressed as homeless person in chicken shop'

Terror suspect 'very quiet', says shop manager

Adam Lusher,Harriet Agerholm
Monday 18 September 2017 15:28 EDT
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Yahyah Farrough was arresyed at a fried chicken shop where he worked in Hounslow in west London
Yahyah Farrough was arresyed at a fried chicken shop where he worked in Hounslow in west London (Ben STANSALLBEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images)

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A police officer who arrested a 21-year-old on suspicion of bombing Parsons Green Tube station was purportedly working undercover and was "dressed as a homeless man".

Yahyah Farrough – who is thought to come from Syria – was arrested at a fried chicken shop where he worked in Hounslow, west London, on Saturday night.

Staff at the fast food restaurant said a man wearing plain clothes revealed himself to be an undercover police officer during the arrest, a manager at the restaurant told The Independent.

“Some of the staff told me that an undercover policeman dressed as a homeless man was one of a group of officers who helped arrest him," Suleman Sarwar, one of four brothers that runs Aladdins chicken shop, said.

"I don't know if the undercover officer was posing as a beggar – all my staff told me was that he was dressed as a homeless man."

The Metropolitan Police, which is leading the investigation into the explosion, did not deny that one of the officers involved in the arrest was undercover.

Mr Farough was the second man to be questioned in connection with the attack on a District line train on Friday.

An 18-year-old was arrested on Saturday morning in Dover, where he was reportedly attempting to buy a ferry ticket to Calais.

Around 30 people were injured by the bomb in west London, which was contained in a white bucket. Witnesses described a "fireball" fly through the train carriage, which was packed with commuters and school children.

Mr Sarwar said the 21-year-old suspect “didn’t look outwardly religious at all".

He added: “He dressed like any other twenty-something: jeans, T-shirt, no distinct beard. Very, very, very normal.”

The 43-year-old said Mr Farrough was "very quiet" and that his English was not good enough for him to engage in much conversation.

Mr Farrough and the 18-year-old, who has not yet been identified, are thought to have lived at different times with a British couple known for fostering refugees.

Penelope and Ronald Jones, aged 71 and 88 respectively, were made MBEs for services to children and families in 2009 and have fostered hundreds of children.

Their home in Sunbury-on-Thames remains cordoned off after a raid by armed police, who evacuated nearby homes as a precaution on Saturday.

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