Devyani Khobragade, the Indian Consul General, was arrested in New York, USA, on charges of fraud and lying on a visa application. She was handcuffed in public outside her daughters’ school, subjected to strip and cavity searches. This 39-year-old Senior Indian diplomat was swabbed for DNA and kept in a
cell with drug addicts after her arrest. She was later released on a USD 250,000 bond the same day.
US has said it is "looking into" the facts of the
case.
US Marshals admitted
that she had been strip searched as part of "standard procedures".
The foreign secretary, Sujatha Singh, summoned the American ambassador to India, Nancy J. Powell, and lodged a strong protest at the “unacceptable treatment” of the Indian diplomat.
A furious India retaliated with a slew of measures to pare
down the privileges of American diplomats after details of Khobragade's arrest
became public. The measures include,
- Downgrading privileges enjoyed by US diplomats and their families, including withdrawing of airport passes and stopping import clearances for the US Embassy.
- All US Consulate personnel and their families to turn in their ID cards immediately which will "now be downgraded on par with what the US provides to Indian Consulates.
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