Britain's most senior Asian police officer claims to have 'secret dossier supporting his racism allegations'

Britain's most senior Asian police officer has a secret dossier of evidence supporting his allegations of racism against the Met, it was revealed today.

Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur revealed the documents supporting his claim at a four-hour meeting of the National Black Police Association executive.

Senior police sources said the developments were so serious that Government intervention was now needed as they called on Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to step in.

They said the dossier supports Mr Ghaffur's claims he is the victim of racism while serving in the Met, and names Commissioner Sir Ian Blair and police authority chairman Len Duvall.

The news comes after Mr Ghaffur's face-toface talks with Sir Ian at Scotland Yard yesterday, and puts the Commissioner under increasing pressure as the racism row threatens to engulf the Met.

It has again raised questions of  'institutionalised racism' in the country's largest police force, with many insiders fearing the latest developments will prove seriously damaging .

NBPA members said Mr Ghaffur had been treated 'extremely poorly' and called on Ms Smith to intervene.

The group, led by Metropolitan-Police Commander Ali Dizaei, said it is 'totally and utterly convinced' the claim is legitimate.

Among the documents are believed to be allegations of victimisation by Sir Ian and Mr Duvall, a claim which they both strongly deny, saying they have never behaved inappropriately.

Troubling times: Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair defended his record on diversity yesterday as he tried to dampen explosive racism accusations against the police

An NBPA spokesman said: 'The association have held a formal meeting with Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur. Having reviewed the evidence we are astonished at the amount of material which was presented to us in support of his case.

'Assistant Commissioner Ghaffur appears to have been treated extremely poorly. We are totally and utterly convinced of the legitimacy of this claim and will be fully supporting Mr Ghaffur with regard to this matter, together with the 43 local BPAs around the country.

'We are calling for an immediate intervention at a senior governmental level to prevent this dispute escalating.'

The meeting between Mr Ghaffur and the NBPA came just hours after he was summoned to face Sir Ian at the force's central London headquarters.

Colleagues said Mr Ghaffur, who is responsible for security at the 2012 Olympics, made allegations of racism, bullying and victimisation.

It is understood the officer believes he was sidelined in preparations for the Olympics as he was not asked to attend key meetings.

He also makes a series of other allegations, including claims of discrimination by other top officers and police figures.

Relations between Mr Ghaffur and Sir Ian were said to have broken down to such an extent that they would only speak at formal meetings.

Sir Ian was forced to defend his record on diversity at a highly-charged meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority saying claims that the pair were not on speaking terms was 'complete nonsense'.

He said: 'I believe I have a long, honourable and occasionally blood-stained record on the championing of diversity - not perfect but always principled and persistent.'

He also warned that Mr Ghaffur could be fired and said he would deal with officers that did not work to his directions 'robustly and quickly'.

The Commissioner does not have the power to sack Mr Ghaffur but he could refer the matter to the MPA for further investigation. Only the MPA could act to end Mr Ghaffur's current contract, which is believed to be one-year long.