A MAN buying cat food said he felt "embarrassed and humiliated" after police handcuffed him when they suspected he was a drug dealer.

Amir Ali had was walking into the Tesco in St Aldates to buy food for his two pets Louis and Vuitton when he noticed four police officers questioning a woman outside in Speedwell Street on Tuesday, June 21.

As he was buying the food, the 34-year-old looked in the direction of the police and before he knew it, officers had entered the store and detained him, leading him out before handcuffing him and questioning him.

He said: "I took a look at what was happening like everyone else and thought nothing of it.

"Then the police approached me and said 'do you know the this girl?'. I told them I had never seen her in my life, but the officer said she had waved at me.

"The male police officer said 'we believe she is dealing drugs and looking for an Asian guy dealing' and then they detained me."

Mr Ali was told he was not being arrested but was searched outside the store.

He added: "He did not acknowledge I might be wrongly accused, he had made up his mind and his colleagues didn't intervene.

"It was just humiliating, I cannot say I have been embarrassed like that before, everyone was looking at me, people were beeping in cars.

"All they had to do was speak to me, I'm a human being. The person was so judgemental."

Mr Ali said he thought the casual clothes he was wearing, as well as him looking young for his age, may have contributed to police targetting him.

After being detained, the Abingdon Road resident had to call The Alternative Tuck Shop in Holywell Street where he works as a manager to confirm who he was and that he had been there all day.

He said: "The way I look is not a crime, I just wear casual clothes which I find comfortable.

"I think it's very negative, why should we have that fear factor, when they [the police] are there to keep us safe?"

Mr Ali, who grew up in Grandpont with his five brothers and three sisters, and went to St Ebbe's school, added he felt "alienated" in the city.

He said: "The police should acknowledge that until you are proven guilty you are innocent."

Mr Ali and his sister Helena Uddin, 30, have now lodged a complaint to Thames Valley Police.

The mother-of-three, a district nurse, said: "It's not good enough. There was no apology, no remorse.

"We want police officers to stop stopping people and searching them just because they believe that person looks suspicious."

Police spokeswoman Connie Primmer said the force took all complaints "extremely seriously" and was looking into the incident.

She added: "It would be inappropriate for us to comment on the matter before an investigation into the complaint has been completed."