US prosecutor Preet Bharara defends mode of Indian diplomat’s arrest

Amid Indian outrage at the treatment meted out to Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade on her arrest in New York last week on visa fraud charges, prosecuting attorney Preet Bharara took the unusual step of issuing a lengthy public statement claiming that Devyani was treated with all diplomatic courtesy.

Bharara said Khobragade was afforded courtesies most Americans wouldn't get, such as being allowed to make phone calls for two hours to arrange child care and sort out personal matters – apart from being offered coffee and refreshments -  after she was ''discretely'' arrested by US department of state agents outside her children's Manhattan school.

Khobragade was arrested last week on charges she lied on a visa application about how much she paid her housekeeper, an Indian national. Prosecutors say the maid received less than $3 per hour for her work  (See: Indian diplomat in US held over visa fraud allegations).

Bharara said Khobragade, who has pleaded not guilty, wasn't handcuffed, restrained or arrested in front of her children, as Indian media reports have so far been saying. And while she was "fully searched" in private by a female deputy marshal, the move was a standard practice for all defendants.

Khobragade has been transferred to India's mission to the United Nations, according to her lawyer and a former colleague.

News that Khobragade was strip-searched has chilled US-Indian relations, and US secretary of state John Kerry called a top Indian official to express his regret over what happened. India has revoked privileges for US diplomats in retaliation.

Bharara, who was born in India but moved with his family to New Jersey, said, "One wonders whether any government would not take action regarding false documents being submitted to it in order to bring immigrants into the country. And one wonders why there is so much outrage about the alleged treatment of the Indian national accused of perpetrating these acts, but precious little outrage about the alleged treatment of the Indian victim and her spouse."

Khobragade, who was India's deputy consul general in New York, would face a maximum sentence of 10 years for visa fraud and five years for making a false declaration if convicted.

Indian consulate spokesman Venkatasamy Perumal said Khobragade was transferred on Tuesday to India's UN mission, but he declined to comment further, and requests for comment to the UN mission's first secretary were not immediately returned.

Khobragade's lawyer, Daniel Arshack, said he didn't know what she would be doing at the UN mission, but "I fully expect her to stay in the US."

Khobragade has said US authorities subjected her to a strip-search, cavity search and DNA swabbing following her arrest.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described her treatment as "deplorable."