Devyani Khobragade arrest row: India accuses US of immigration fraud
Reported by Nidhi Razdan, Edited by Mala Das | Updated: December 18, 2013 19:14 IST
New Delhi: In the middle of a snowballing diplomatic row over the arrest and humiliation of high-ranking Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in the US, India has accused the American government of facilitating immigration fraud by the woman who worked for the diplomat and whose complaint led to the latter's arrest. (Diplomat arrest row - latest developments)
NDTV has learnt that the family of Sangeeta Richard, the Indian woman who worked for Devyani Khobragade for nine months till June this year, left for America on December 10, two days before the diplomat's arrest.
Ms Richard had complained that her employer made her falsify documents for her visa application, and made her work a 40-hour week on just three dollars a day. (Read: Charges against Devyani Khobragade)Her complaint led to Ms Khobragade's arrest for alleged visa fraud on Thursday last, followed by strip-search by US marshals. The diplomat was also swabbed for DNA and subjected to cavity-search before being put in a cell with drug addicts. (Read: Embarrassing failure of US protocol,says diplomat's attorney)
New Delhi had immediately told the US that Ms Richard was absconding, and faced an arrest warrant in India.
![Devyani_Khobragade_caption_new_360x270.jpg]()
Reliable sources say in June, India had lodged a complaint and filed a missing person report in New York, but the police there did nothing about it. They also allege that the US did not respond to repeated requests to help find the woman, whose name surfaced next when Ms Khobragade was arrested.
India had asked the American Embassy for help to find Ms Richard way back on July 5, said the sources.
Ms Richard, who remained in hiding, reportedly met an immigration lawyer in the US in September and asked for 10,000 dollars and a passport to stay on in the country.
At the same time, the Delhi High Court passed an injunction against Ms Richard on September 21, which, India says, was shared with the US Embassy.
On Wednesday, officials learnt that Ms Richard's family left for the US last week before the authorities there initiated action against the diplomat.
NDTV has learnt that the family of Sangeeta Richard, the Indian woman who worked for Devyani Khobragade for nine months till June this year, left for America on December 10, two days before the diplomat's arrest.
Ms Richard had complained that her employer made her falsify documents for her visa application, and made her work a 40-hour week on just three dollars a day. (Read: Charges against Devyani Khobragade)Her complaint led to Ms Khobragade's arrest for alleged visa fraud on Thursday last, followed by strip-search by US marshals. The diplomat was also swabbed for DNA and subjected to cavity-search before being put in a cell with drug addicts. (Read: Embarrassing failure of US protocol,says diplomat's attorney)
New Delhi had immediately told the US that Ms Richard was absconding, and faced an arrest warrant in India.
Reliable sources say in June, India had lodged a complaint and filed a missing person report in New York, but the police there did nothing about it. They also allege that the US did not respond to repeated requests to help find the woman, whose name surfaced next when Ms Khobragade was arrested.India had asked the American Embassy for help to find Ms Richard way back on July 5, said the sources.
Ms Richard, who remained in hiding, reportedly met an immigration lawyer in the US in September and asked for 10,000 dollars and a passport to stay on in the country.
At the same time, the Delhi High Court passed an injunction against Ms Richard on September 21, which, India says, was shared with the US Embassy.
On Wednesday, officials learnt that Ms Richard's family left for the US last week before the authorities there initiated action against the diplomat.
Live: Did US help Devyani’s maid pull of immigration fraud?
by 26 mins ago
6.42: Now India accuses US of indulging in immigration fraud
According to a report on NDTV, after it was revealed that Sangeeta Richard's husband and son flew to New York just two days before Devyani Khobdagade was arrested, India has accused the US of facilitating immigration fraud by Richards. According to the report, shortly after Richard walked out of Khobdagade's home, the representative of Indian government had filed a missing complaint with the US in June. However, the police there refused to take any action on the case and the US authorities dismissed several requests made by the Indian government to help find Richard. The report says:
According to a report on NDTV, after it was revealed that Sangeeta Richard's husband and son flew to New York just two days before Devyani Khobdagade was arrested, India has accused the US of facilitating immigration fraud by Richards. According to the report, shortly after Richard walked out of Khobdagade's home, the representative of Indian government had filed a missing complaint with the US in June. However, the police there refused to take any action on the case and the US authorities dismissed several requests made by the Indian government to help find Richard. The report says:
"India had asked the American Embassy for help to find Ms Richard way back on July 5, said the sources. Ms Richard, who remained in hiding, reportedly met an immigration lawyer in the US in September and asked for 10,000 dollars and a passport to stay on in the country."
The series of action on behalf of the US led India to accuse US of helping Richard pull off an immigration fraud.
6.12 pm: Maid's family flew to New York two days before Devyani's arrest
According to a PTI flash, Khobragade's absconding maid Sangeeta Richard's family flew to New York on 10 December, just two days before the diplomat's arrest.
5.18 pm: US bristles at India's retaliatory moves
While the US Marshals justified strip searching Devyani Khobdagade by saying she was subjected the standard search procedures in the country, reaction of India's retaliation seems to be making their way into the US' mainstream media. An article on New York Times, alongside reporting the proceedings and the diplomatic war between US and India, suggested that the country is outraging over the 'disrobing' of a 'middle class' Indian woman where as domestic helps are treated 'abominably' in India. In the piece, Gardiner Harris, says:
"It is not unusual in India for domestic staff to be paid poorly and be required to work more than 60 hours a week; they are sometimes treated abominably. Reports of maids being imprisoned or abused by their employers are frequent.
But the idea of a middle-class woman being arrested and ordered to disrobe is seen as shocking. Airport security procedures in India provide separate lines for women, and any pat-down searches are performed behind curtains."
The piece seems to suggest that domestic helps in India are almost always abused in Indian households. It also seems to say that the Indian government and media's reaction to the diplomat's arrest was somehow connected with the fact that Devyani Khobadgade belongs to the middle class and possibly women from less affluent backgrounds don't invite the same kind of attention when faced with abuse or unfair persecution at the hands of law.
Is this a start of US media backlash against the India's response to the issue?
4.00 pm: India shifts Devyani to permanent diplomatic mission in New York
To ensure complete diplomatic immunity to Devyani Khobragade, India has shifted her to the permanent New York diplomatic mission, The Indian Express reported.
There however is a complication. According to The Indian Express report, Devyani will have to apply for a fresh diplomatic card through the UN Secretariat, which would ultimately go for clearance to the US State Department. India is hopeful that Washington will issue the card and, in doing so, extend full immunity to her.
If this process were to go through, sources said, it would ensure that Khobragade would not be subjected to any arrest or custodial interrogation in the future, the report further states.
2:40 pm: Protest held outside US Embassy in Delhi over treatment of diplomat
A protest rally is being held outside the US embassy over the treatment meted out to the Indian diplomat.
Firstpost's photojournalist Naresh Sharma reports that the protest rally was being held some distance away from the US embassy and the protesters were some distance away from the building when they were detained by the police.
Here's an image of the protesters:
]![The protest held outside the US embassy. Naresh Sharma/ Firstpost]()
The protest held outside the US embassy. Naresh Sharma/ Firstpost
1.35 pm: PM slams US for treatment meted out to Devyani
The protest held outside the US embassy. Naresh Sharma/ FirstpostAmid allegations that the government hasn't quite sent out a strong message yet with no official protest registered with the US by the government, the Prime Minister issued a statement today. According to PTI, Manmohan Singh slammed the US for ill-treating the deputy consul. "Treatment meted out to Indian Deputy Consul General by US is is deplorable," he has said.
1.13 pm: US Marshals justify 'search procedure' Devyani was subjected to
The US Marshals Service (USMS) has justified the "search procedure" of Devyani Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York, saying it found that her detention was in accordance with their directives and protocols.
The USMS also confirmed that the ranking Indian diplomat was subject to the "same search procedures" as other "arrestees held within the general prisoner population".
The Marshals said in a statement that they had nothing to do with the Dec 12 arrest of Khobragade and they were merely following "standard arrestee procedures".
From IANS
12.30 pm: This situation is a conspiracy, says Khurshid
Khurshid has also said that the entire situation is a conspiracy, and that there is a long history to the incident. He says that the domestic maid at the centre of the entire controversy went 'missing' and the entire incident was part of a conspiracy that would allow her to immigrate to the US.
He says that India had already registered an FIR against the domestic help as she wanted to illegally immigrate to the US. He also said that the husband filed complaint with the NYPD of theft of cash, phone, documents against the domestic help earlier, but she had gone 'missing'.
"India had written to NYPD to arrest domestic help so that she can be tried here, but no action was taken", he said, adding that it was in the midst of all this, that the arrest of Devyani was carried out.
Khurshid is also detailing the measures that India is taking against the US in protest at its behaviour in this matter.
This includes directives for US to return diplomatic ID cards and stop diplomatic import clearances. "I don't think that such actions have ever been carried out before", he said to anger from the house, who were falling over each other to tell him that this was also the first time that such an outrageous incident had taken place.
12.25 pm: Khurshid responds, says govt will not led government down
A lofty Salman Khurshid is now responding in his capacity as Minister of External Affairs.
Today we speak with one voice, let that voice be one single voice. This government will not let you down", he said to the house. We will overcome, we will succeed".
The main concern is to ensure that the dignity of our officer is restored".
11.50 am: Kanimozhi, RJD, Shiv Sena also call for 'tough stand'
As the debate continues, representatives from various parties including the Shiv Sena and DMK have all said their piece, all talking about India's 'weak kneed' foreign policy, especially when it came to the US.
They are all asking for an 'unqualified apology' and a 'tough stand' on the US by the government.
"The US considers India a subject country", added Atchuthan of the CPI(M) in Kerala. "We must respond in such a way that this is the last incident of this time"
MP after MP is getting up to speak. And everyone is so outraged, that they are willing to forgo the 'other' business of the house so that they can speak beyond the scheduled time limit for the debate.
11:40 am: Don't settle for anything less than apology, SP tells govt
The Samajwadi Party said that the US has insulted Indians on multiple occasions in the past and the government had failed to take action which had resulted in the action against Khobragade.
"This incident has taken place only because in the past we haven't put our view forward properly. When it comes to the US, India seems to suffer an inferiority complex and it is very sad," Ram Gopal Yadav said.
The US should apologise for its conduct and the government should not agree to anything less, he said.
"If this doesn't happen then we should extend the same treatment to their diplomats," Yadav said.
11.27 am:Mayawati creates uproar by bringing caste into Devyani debate
And in such matters of national outrage, BSP leader Mayawati has created more outrage, by accusing the government of taking 'delayed action' into Khobragade's case because she was of a lower caste.
In comments that caused angry outbursts from the gallery, Mayawati said, "She is a Dalit, which is why the government has been delaying on action. Had she been from a different higher caste, they would have acted promptly"
Issues of foreign policy being quite the political hot potato, one would have imagined the Devyani Khobdagade issue would be yet another potent weapon in the Opposition's arsenal. However, with the government taking sweeping measures and a somewhat petulant stand on the issue, getting back at the US diplomats in India quite vengefully, most of the parties in the Opposition didn't have much to chew on. However, trust BSP's Mayawati to find ways to give the issue a local political spin.
As she declared in the RS that the government was hesitant in acting on the issue promptly because the woman was a Dalit and did not belong to a higher caste, she reduced what is an important foreign policy challenge to a vote-grabbing plank that might work wonders among her electorate.
Sitaram Yechury for his part, is now taking a more welcome macro view of the matter, talking strategic relations. He has also welcomed the government measures to take action against the US.
"You have bent backwards to create situations as per their demands. Please understand the depth of how much we have bent backwards to them. Please accept that this incident shows the unoversal values of hypocrisy that the US follows", she said.
11.20 am: We must launch the strongest protest, says Jaitley
Arun Jaitley is tearing into the government's foreign policy, saying that it is time that India takes its bilateral relations seriously, and insist on being treated like equals.
Blaming the government's past policy of 'looking the other way' when it came to foreign policy, Jaitley said that it was this attitude that allowed such incidents to keep happening.
A debate on the incident is currently underway in the Rajya Sabha. "We need to introspect where we stand on foreign policy", Jaitley said, adding that the measures taken over the last 24 hours needed to be continued.
Commerce Minister Anand Sharma then reacted to Jaitley's speech, saying that the government had taken note, and that this was a matter of national outrage.
10.26 am: I broke down many times, says Devyani in email to IFS colleagues
In an email to her IFS colleagues, Devyani Khobragade called on the government to ensure her and her family's safety and preserve the dignity of the IFS, which was "unquestionably under siege", the Times of India reported.
"While I was going through it, although I must admit that I broke down many times as the indignities of repeated handcuffing, stripping and cavity searches, swabbing, in a holdup with common criminals and drug addicts were all being imposed upon me despite my incessant assertions of immunity, I got the strength to regain composure and remain dignified thinking that I must represent all of my colleagues and my country with confidence and pride," she said in her email, the Times of India reported.
10.00 am: US is reviewing arrest of Khobragade, says official
With a furious India taking several steps to make its displeasure of consular official Devyani Khobragade widely known, including asking US diplomats to return their ID cards and removing the barricades from outside the US embassy in New Delhi, new reports coming in say that the US is reviewing the arrest.
State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf acknowledged it was a "sensitive issue", reported the Economic Times.
"Accordingly, we are looking into the intake procedures surrounding this arrest to ensure that all appropriate procedures were followed and every opportunity for courtesy was extended," she said in a statement.
9.45 am: Government to term consular domestic help 'government staff'?
The government is taking steps to ensure that another Khobragade type incident is avoided, by clearing a proposal to give personal staff of Indian diplomats the status of 'government employees', reported the Indian Express.
According to the report, "This would mean that such staff would not be under the labour laws of the respective countries, and their salary bill would be taken care of by the Government of India."
The entire standoff was triggered after the US said that Khobragade had violated visa conditions by paying her nanny significantly less than US minimum wage. It added that personal staff working inside officials homes were protected under US labour laws.
But, the Express report adds, the finance ministry is opposed to the plan as it fears that it may become an open-ended liability. An official pointed out that once the personal staff are made government employees, there is no provision in the service manuals to retrench them.
8.30 am: Embarrassing failure of US protocol, says lawyer
The lawyer representing Debyani Khobragade has said that the entire prosecution represents a significant error in judgement and an embarrassing failure of US international protocol.
Daniel N Arshack expressed hope that the matter would be promptly resolved. He said, "diplomats with authority at the highest levels of the Indian and US governments will confer and conclude that
it is simply not in the mutual interests of our countries to continue with this ill-advised prosecution."
Distressed at the treatment that Khobragade received at the hands of US authorities, Arshack said there was simply no reason to have arrested her on the street in front of her daughter's school nor to have strip searched her.
"Similarly situated individuals of her stature are routinely provided an opportunity to report to the authorities to address charges, at their convenience, instead of being swept off the street like a common criminal," he said.
Speaking to CNN-IBN later, Arshack said, 'Dr Kobragade is strong she is confident that this will resolve soon in an appropriate manner and she appreciates from the bottom of her heart the support that she has received from throughout India as well as from throughout US".
7.45 am: Proper procedure was followed in Devyani's arrest: US
The US Marshals Service (USMS) has confirmed that Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade was subjected to "strip search" after her arrest in New York last week, and subjected to the same search procedures as other arrestees.
"As for the type of search, I can only confirm that she was subject to the same search procedures as other USMS arrestees held within the general prisoner population in the Southern District of New York, which in this case was a strip search," USMS spokesperson Nikki Credic-Barrett said yesterday.
In response to a question on putting the her with drug addicts in the cell, she said: "the arrestee was placed in a cell with other female defendants awaiting court proceedings."
She, however, refused to take any position on her arrest, saying said USMS was not the arresting agency and takes no position regarding the appropriateness of her arrest.
The USMS has reviewed its own detention of arrestee Devyani Khobragade and has determined that the USMS, Southern District of New York handled Khobragade's intake and detention in accordance with USMS Policy Directives and Protocols, she said.
7.00 am: US asks India to respect Vienna convention
The US today appealed to India to uphold the Vienna Convention principles and ensure the safety and security of its diplomats stationed in the country, as New Delhi took a series of steps in response to the arrest and inhuman treatment of its diplomat in New York last week.
"We have conveyed at high levels to the government of India our expectation that India will continue to fulfill all of its obligations under the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations and consular relations. Obviously the safety and security of our diplomats and consular officers in the field is a top priority," the State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters at her daily news conference.
"We'll continue to work with India to ensure that all of our diplomats and consular officers are being afforded full rights and protections. Safety and security of our facilities as well is something we take very seriously, and we'll keep working with the Indians on that," she said.
Harf was responding to questions about the withdrawal of certain privileges given by India to US diplomats in the country after the arrest and the alleged inhuman treatment of Devyani Khobragade. The Indian government was informed about the allegations of visa fraud
-- end of updates for 17 December --
9:45 pm: Khobragade put through strip and cavity search like criminals by US
Senior Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, arrested in New York on charges of visa fraud, was put through both strip and cavity searches, procedures normally used for criminals.
The 39-year-old deputy Consul General in New York, after being arrested and handcuffed in public while dropping her daughter to school on Thursday, was detained with sex workers and drug addicts, sources said.
7.04 pm: Twitter divided over India's reaction on Devyani Khobragade
While India may have taken strict action on how Devyani Khobrage was treated, many on Twitter have questioned why the maid was underpaid.
The twitterati, while suggesting that India was over reacting, were of the opinion that probably the diplomat does deserve to be pulled up, if not in the way the US has gone about it.
Here are some reactions:
Devyani Khobragade was after all underpaying her maid & breaking US law. Why GOI going overboard.. Gidar Dhamki..SG ko bachane ke liye..
- sapna parmar (@parmarsap) December 17, 2013Didnt accrue loyalty points? RT @ash_dubey When Dr. Kalam was strip searched, UPA did NOT do all these??? WHy now on Devyani Khobragade ?
- Emanin (@emanin) December 17, 2013When you cannot afford a nanny, you don't. Bending the law is not the solution. Never for a diplomat. http://t.co/RkabU7K8CJ via @ibnlive
- Shyam Srikumar (@shyamsrikumar) December 17, 2013If it takes a bullying US to teach our diplomats about human rights and minimum wages, so be it. Devyani Khobragade can't get away
- Abishek Chopra (@abishekchopra) December 17, 2013However there were many who did support India's reaction and also thought that what the US did to her was not correct.
1st time UPA acts tough with US. Devyani Khobragade,as a woman &Indian, shouldn't have been treated this way by the US. Boycott US products?
- Dr Pravin Togadia (@DrPravinTogadia) December 17, 2013Impressed with the Indian govt moves in Devyani Khobragade case...takes US head on..
- Sudarshan Kumar (@sudarshankr) December 17, 2013Meanwhile, this tweet was also making rounds of Twitter, poking fun at the whole incident and revealing the typical Indian mindset.
@SakshiMithal now that u in del:Overheard in Khan Market: "That poor Devyani Khobragade. Arrested, strip-searched, & worst of all, NO MAID."
- Purvi Parkeria (@purviparkeria) December 17, 20135.23 pm: India demands unconditional apology from US
After taking a number of measure to show its displeasure over the treatment of Devyani Khobragade in New York, India has also demanded unconditional apology from US over the diplomat's humiliation.
4.41 pm: Delhi police remove barricades outside US embassy
After a direction from the the government, the Delhi police has removed barricades outside the US embassy in Delhi.
Such measures were taken to express India's displeasure over the treatment meted out to Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York.
Times Now reportes that the highest ranks of the Delhi police officers are present for the exercise.
3. 20 pm: My daughter's arrest is a conspiracy, says Devyani Khobragade's father
After meeting Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Diplomat Devyani Khobragade's father says his daughter's arrest in the US 'is a total conspiracy.'
Earlier, he had said that the Home Minister has assured him that the Indian government will pursue US government to drop charges against Devyani.
2. 55 pm: India asks for details of salaries paid to domestic help
The row over diplomat Devyani Khobragade's arrest has intensified further. India has now asked for details of salaries paid to domestic help, gardener and other Indian staff in US consulates.
The Indian government has also asked US officials to remove barricades outside the Delhi embassy. India has also stopped all import clearances for US embassy including food, liquor. According to PTI reports, government has also asked for visa and other details of all teachers at US schools.
US policy consistent:One set of rules for own people.Another set of rules for the rest of the world.Devyani Khobragade just another example
- Smita Barooah (@smitabarooah) December 17, 2013Row over diplomat Devyani Khobragade's arrest intensifies: Delhi Police asked to lift barricades outside US embassy, say sources.
- NDTV (@ndtv) December 17, 20132. 50 pm: Arrest same sex companions of US diplomats in India, says Yashwant Sinha
According to NDTV report, the Indian government has withdrawn airport passes for US consulates and embassies.
Meanwhile, Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha has raised eyebrows with a comment that after the arrest and alleged mistreatment of diplomat Devyani Khobragade in the US, India should reciprocate by arresting the same sex companions of American diplomats using a Supreme Court verdict that restored a ban on gay sex last week.
"My suggestion to the Government of India is, the media has reported that we have issued visas to a number of US diplomats' companions. 'Companions' means that they are of the same sex. Now, after the Supreme Court ruling, it is completely illegal in our country. Just as paying less wages was illegal in the US. So, why doesn't the government of India go ahead and arrest all of them? Put them behind bars, prosecute them in this country and punish them," Sinha said.
1. 30 pm: Govt has assured me full support, says Indian diplomat's father
"The Indian government has assured me full support," the Indian diplomat's father Uttam Khobragade told reporters after meeting Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde.
He said that the Home Minister has assured him that the Indian government will pursue US government to drop charges against Devyani.
Khobragade's father had earlier said that that his daughter is being made "a scapegoat" and asked UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to intervene to get his daughter back. "It is the government who has send my daughter. It is a political issue between these two countries and my daughter is being made a scapegoat," Devyani's father Uttam Khobragade had said.
1. 15 pm: Salman Khurshid says level of indignity is unacceptable
Addressing a press conference, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid termed the arrest of Indian diplomat in a 'barbaric' way as unacceptable.
"We feel an extreme level of distress. This is completely unacceptable. Whatever needs to be is being done. We have put in motion of what we believe will address the issue."
"Have communicated our dissent to the US. I can assure you that we will take this very seriously," Khurshid told reporters.
1. 00 pm: Turn in your IDs, India tells US diplomats as row escalate
Angry over the "despicable" and "barbaric" treatment meted out to its diplomat, India Tuesday asked US diplomats to turn in their IDs even as Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde declined to meet a visiting US Congressional delegation.
11. 55 am: Rahul, Shinde refuse to meet US Congressional delegation
Adopting a tough stand, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday refused to meet a visiting US congressional delegation to show India's displeasure over the treatment meted out to Devyani Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York.
According to reports, all ministers have been asked to not meet with US ministerial panel to protest the diplomat's arrest.
Refused to meet the visiting USA delegation in solidarity with our nation, protesting ill-treatment meted to our lady diplomat in USA.
- Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 17, 2013The diplomatic snub comes a day after Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon cancelled their meetings separately with the visiting US delegation.
The NSA is known to have described the treatment meted out to Devyani Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York, as "despicable" and "barbaric", a source told IANS.
Khobragade was strip searched, confined in a cell with drug addicts and also subjected to DNA swabbing, sources confirmed to IANS.
]![Khobragade's arrest raises many questions. PTI]()
Khobragade's arrest raises many questions. PTI
Speaker Meira Kumar, herself a former Indian diplomat, declined to meet the US delegation, comprising Republican and Democrat members, "as a sign of displeasure" over the treatment meted out Khobragade.
Khobragade's arrest raises many questions. PTIKhobragade, one of India's senior diplomats in New York, was charged last week with visa fraud and making false statements.
She was accused by Manhattan's Indian American US Attorney Preet Bharara of visa fraud and exploiting her babysitter and housekeeper. She was handcuffed in public by law enforcement authorities in New York Thursday while she was dropping her daughter at school.
India has termed the treatment meted out to the envoy as "absolutely unacceptable". US Ambassador Nancy Powell was summoned to South Block by Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh Dec 13 and a strong protest lodged over the treatment.
11.30 pm: Khobragade named in housing scam too?
Last year, Khobragade reportedly was one of 15 Indian officials named in an alleged housing scam. She reportedly testified before a judicial panel investigating how she and other people with influence obtained apartments in a new Mumbai co-op built by the government, reports NY Daily News.
11. 20 am: US says standard procedures followed on diplomat Devyani
India's deputy consul general in New York, the US State Department sought to pass the buck to the justice department and the local police.
"The State Department's Diplomatic Security followed standard procedures during the arrest," spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters on Monday when asked why the US was not respecting basic courtesies to a diplomat as it expected others to respect its own diplomats.
"After her arrest, she was passed on to the US marshals for intake and processing. So for any additional questions on her treatment, obviously, this would be the US Marshals and not us. I would refer you there," she said.
11. 10 am: Diplomat Devyani strip-searched, India snubs US team
India's deputy consul general in New York Devyani Khobragade was strip-searched and confined with drug addicts after her detention in a visa fraud case. She was also subjected to DNA swabbing.
On Monday, India retaliated against the US for the humiliation of diplomat with Speaker Meira Kumar and NSA Shivshankar Menon refusing to meet a Congressional delegation on Monday.
Sources confirmed that the government made it a point to convey to the delegation that the Speaker was not going to receive them because she had been deeply troubled by the manner in which Khobragade, who is accused of visa fraud, had been dealt with by the US authorities.
India has been deeply offended by the manner in which Khobragade was treated by the US authorities who chose to ignore her status as a middle-level diplomat from a friendly country. It has continued to emphasize before the state department that the treatment meted out to Khobragade was in complete violation of Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR).
http://www.firstpost.com/india/live-did-us-help-devyanis-maid-pull-of-immigration-fraud-1291025.html