Indian diplomat in servant row 'escapes' before grand jury indictment

US Grand Jury indicts Devyani Khobragade for visa fraud and making false statements.

NEW YORK: Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, whose arrest over treatment of her servant sparked a bitter row between the US and India, has left the US, authorities said on Thursday.

US prosecutors informed a court that New York-based Khobragade has left the country even as US grand jury returned an indictment against her.

The indictment came a day after Khobragade's lawyers lost a bid to delay the January 13 deadline for a preliminary hearing to be held or an indictment to be filed in the case.

But prosecutors in a letter on Thursday told a federal judge there was no need to arraign Khobragade on charges of visa fraud and making false statements, as she was "very recently accorded diplomatic immunity status and that she departed the United States today."

A lawyer for Khobragade did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

I will show my immunity to the court. The court will see that I have diplomatic immunity. Only then will I leave the US: Khobragade to PTI.

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 9, 2014