The moment a female diner retrieved an item from her clothing to put in her food in order to avoid paying a bill was caught on camera.
Restaurant owner Naseem Khan, 44, captured the suspected "con artist" on CCTV taking out a piece of plastic - which she hid in her bra - and placing it in her food.
The curry house boss claims the female tore off the wrapper from a cigarette packet she stored in her underwear, and placed the plastic into the bowl of her chicken curry.
Owner Naseem says the family of five dined at her curry house, Namji, in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, on Monday afternoon and “woofed down” their pricey dinner, which set them back £170.
However, when the bill arrived, the restaurant boss claims they made threats and even shockingly stormed while complaining about the 'plastic' in their food - even after being generously offered a 20 per cent discount.
Police later confirmed they were investigating an allegation of theft.
Disgusted Naseem, who is dubbed the "Queen of Curry" due to her work with homeless people, said she would have given the the family free meals if they told her they could not afford them.
The 44-year-old went on to add that it was 'disturbing' the woman had chosen to carry out the deceit in front of her children, aged between ten and fourteen.
Naseem said: “She obviously did a lot of planning beforehand.
"You could say, 'This is somebody who is not happy with the food,' but they woofed down the food and nothing was left at the end – they ate everything.
“Doing this in front of kids is not acceptable in this society.
“If she was struggling with money, she could have come to me and I would have given her food for free. But she didn’t do that.”
Around 3.30pm last Monday, Naseem says the family came to her premises in the Xscape shopping mall in Milton Keynes.
She went on to say that their order consisted of a whopping four starters, seven side dishes, four drinks and six main courses - including two Tandoor Lamb chops - costing a total of £170.45.
But Nassem said they began to grumble about their experience as soon as they tucked into their first course, before later attempting to pull off an audacious trick on her.
Speaking about the incident, she said: “This particular couple started to complain about the starters first, but they ate all of them. And when the main food came out, they ate all of it again.
“Later, the woman called the waiter and said there was plastic in her food.
“The waiter said, 'We don’t have this plastic in our kitchen, but I have the authority to give you 20 per cent off and not charge you for the dish.'”
She continued to say: “The husband of the woman then stood up and said, 'I’m not going to pay', to which the waiter said: “Fine, do what you have to do” and walked away.
Nassem then shockingly added: “The waiters have been given clear instructions not to confront anybody, as we have had a problem with people being very aggressive and abusive."
Horrifyingly, the 44-year-old said that she had only realised the couple pulled off the elaborate trick only after she looked at the footage of the incident on her security cameras, saying: "We went on the CCTV to examine how things could have gone better. That’s when we discovered that she removed the plastic from her bra.
“It was from a cigarette packet. She broke a piece off and put the rest back in her bra, then put it in the curry and called the waiter.”
During the pandemic, the boss' hospitality shone through her community. She generously gave away 250 free meals per week to homeless people, while also taking part in a variety of fundraising projects.
The Milton Keynes restaurant owner said: “As a Muslim, it is my responsibility to help others and give [to] charity.”
But tragically, she was incensed by this alleged con - which may have been used at other local restaurants - adding that she has informed the police about the incident.
The Queen of Curry added that she sent the CCTV video to other restaurants in the area to inform them of what happened at her branch, saying: “When I sent the footage to a local group of restaurants, many of the owners said they’d seen something similar.
"It’s something we would never expect or wish to see.”
A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said they were investigating the incident and have urged anyone with details to come forward.
They said: "At around 8.30am today (11/10), we received a report of a theft at Namji restaurant in Xscape in Marlborough Gate, Milton Keynes.
“Officers are investigating and anyone with information should call 101 or make a report on our website."
