Know Devyani Khobragade who was humiliated by New York police

New Delhi: Devyani Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York, is the daughter of a retired IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre Uttam Khobragade. Devyani Khobragade was arrested by New York police on visa fraud charges and released on a USD 250,000 bond after she pleaded not guilty in a court. She was taken into custody as she was dropping her daughter to school after US Attorney for the Southern District of New York India-born Preet Bharara announced charges of visa fraud against her and alleged that she had made false statements in connection with the visa application of an Indian national employed as a babysitter and housekeeper at her home in New York. She has worked previously in the Indian Embassies in Pakistan, Germany and Italy. She is the recipient of the Chevening Rolls-Royce Scholarship 2012 – a part of the Chevening Rolls-Royce Science and Innovation Leadership Programme. She is a qualified doctor and can speak English, German, Hindi and Marathi. Born and brought up in Mumbai, she went to Mount Carmel school. Later she did MBBS from Seth GS medical college and KEM hospital in Mumbai. But she did not pursue her career in medicine and opted for the Foreign Service. Her uncle Dr Ajay M Gondane is also an IFS officer of 1985 batch. Devyani is married to a professor and has two daughters aged three and six years and is currently a Director in the Ministry of External Affairs. Devyani originally belongs to Mumbai and her passions are travelling, reading, yoga, music and dancing. Devyani is not new to controversies. Her name was figured in Mumbai's Adarsh Housing society scam, two years ago. Devyani, who already owned a house in Mumbai which was also allotted under the state government's 10 per cent quota got another flat at the Adarsh in 2005-06. Smarting under the humiliation, India retaliated strongly and took a slew of anti-US steps. This led to Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Congress Party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi all refusing to meet with a visiting U.S. congressional delegation. India also recalled all consulate personnel ID cards and made it clear that the law of strict reciprocity is in place. So if the US says that Devyani has limited immunity, a similar procedure will be applicable for US diplomats stationed in India. It is the strongest Indian diplomatic action against the US in years. In 1971, when Washington sent a carrier group to the Bay of Bengal during the Bangladesh war, India was hurt. Since then, Indo-US ties have never been dealt such a blow. Even when former president APJ Abdul Kalam was subjected to a patdown in the US, India barely protested.