Gurgaon Police await MEA orders; latter looks at Saudi for response

Since Friday, the police have been maintaining silence in the matter, which has been hogging the media limelight since the police “rescued” the two Nepalese women from a Gurgaon house where the senior Saudi diplomat, said to be the First Secretary, lived.

In view of the seriousness of the case, Gurgaon Police Commissioner Navdeep Singh Virk cancelled his leave and attended office on Friday. Virk, who is handling the case and had gone on ‘special’ leave for a week on Thursday, attended office on Friday, cancelling his leave which was till September 13. 

The case has become a highly sensitive one, with the Indian government treading carefully as it concerns diplomatic relations with two friendly countries —Saudi Arabia and Nepal. 

The Nepalese envoy in India has approached the MEA requesting details of the case. The Saudi Arabian embassy has termed the rape charges as “not proven” and also deplored the “unwarranted media briefing before investigations are complete”. The embassy has also protested against the police barging into the diplomat’s house “against all diplomatic convention”.

The Gurgaon Police have said they will proceed in the case only after getting directions from the MEA and keeping in mind the provisions of the Vienna Convention, that provides diplomatic immunity to a serving diplomat and his immediate family.

The police are also wondering how to proceed in the matter regarding the rape allegations levelled by the two women against some friends of the diplomat who visited his Gurgaon upscale apartment. Police are planning to scan the CCTV footage of the apartment to find out the visitors to the diplomat’s house. 

The Gurgaon police have written to the MEA asking for permission to speak to the diplomat and his wife, who have since moved out of Gurgaon to a residence in Delhi under the Saudi embassy.

Once they get a clearance, they may speak to the diplomat and his wife to identify people who visited the flat on the fifth floor of Ambiance Island Caitriona here.

The Gurgaon police have been sending daily reports or briefing to the <g data-gr-id="31">MEA</g> but officials in the ministry are silent.

Meanwhile, the waiting game in the case continued with the External Affairs Ministry yet to get any response from the Saudi Arabia embassy on its demand to cooperate in the investigations.

Official sources said the MEA was yet to get any kind of response from the Saudi Embassy which was asked to waive the official’s diplomatic immunity and cooperate in the investigations. They also indicated that the government will wait for some more time before deciding on any further action in the case.

Saudi Arabian Ambassador Saud Mohammed Alsati was called to the MEA on Thursday and told that the accused diplomat should give a statement to Gurgaon police probing the case.