Indian diplomat indicted for visa fraud ordered toleave US

Devyani Khobragade was ordered to leave the US
on Thursday after she was indicted on criminal
charges and India refused to waive her immunity.
Ms Khobragade was arrested in New York last
month on charges of visa fraud and of underpaying
her housekeeper.

She was handcuffed and strip-searched, and India
demanded an apology for her “humiliation”.
Ms Khobragade has always denied any wrongdoing.
A senior US official said Ms Khobragade had
departed from New York’s John F Kennedy
International Airport on Thursday night, heading for
India.
Indian foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin
said: “At the time of her departure to India,
Counsellor Khobragade reiterated her innocence of
charges filed against her.
“She affirmed her gratitude to the government of
India, in particular to the external affairs minister,
and the people of India, as also the media, for their
strong and sustained support during this period.”
On Thursday, US officials said they had accepted
India’s request to accredit Ms Khobragade to the
UN, which confers broader immunity than that
enjoyed by a consular official.
It would be almost unprecedented for the US to
have denied such a request unless the diplomat
was a national security risk.
Washington then asked the Indian government to
waive the immunity but India refused, so the US
then “requested her departure”, US officials said.
US prosecutors said the charges against her would
remain pending.
Ms Khobragade, India’s deputy consul general in
New York, was arrested after a complaint from the
maid, Sangeeta Richard.
Ms Khobragade in turn accused Ms Richard of theft
and attempted blackmail.
Delhi said it was “shocked and appalled” at the
manner of her arrest, and ordered a series of
diplomatic reprisals against the US.
Security barricades around the US embassy in the
capital were removed and a visiting US delegation
was snubbed by senior Indian politicians and
officials.
On Wednesday, the US embassy in Delhi was
ordered to stop “commercial activities on its
premises”. India also said that embassy cars could
be penalised for traffic offences.
The embassy has been told to shut down a club
within its premises which includes a pool,
restaurant and tennis court, NDTV news channel
said.