Officials at an Indian airport arrested a New York police officer for carrying three bullets in his luggage, Thursday.
Manny Encarnacion, a New York Police Department officer, was detained at Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi, March 10 after the authorities found bullets in his baggage. He had arrived from New York to the Indian capital. The authorities charged him under Arms Act, the police said Friday.
The 49-year-old officer was in the capital city to visit his wife Vida, an Iranian student. He appeared in court the same day and was granted bail. However, he is not allowed to leave the country until the case is solved. The court scheduled the next hearing April 17, reports Press Trust of India news agency.
Kim Royster, New York Police Department Deputy Chief said they have escalated the issue to the State Department and are trying to get the charges dropped. The New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said he hoped the Indian officials treated him fairly.
"Obviously we want to know a lot more about what's going on," he said Friday. "But so far, from what I'm hearing, I'm troubled by it and I want to make sure we're providing support to him and make sure he's not being treated unfairly," de Blasio added.
The arrest seems to have bothered the U.S. greatly and most of the senior officials and media concluded that the detention was India's move to take "revenge" for the detention and strip-search of Devyani Khobragade, a junior India diplomat in New York last year.
Rep. Peter King wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry, asking him to look into the situation. He called the arrest "an excessive act by the Indian government."
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said she felt that both the countries have moved past the Khobragade issue.
"I think we feel like we've moved past this and hope the Indians have as well. ... India is a very close partner," she said, reports the Associated Press.
The U.S. media also blamed India for the Encarnacion arrest. "India is getting revenge for Nannygate," the New York Post said. News channel CBS News called the arrest an act of "blatant retaliation" for Khobragade's arrest.
