Consulate Official claims the couple used abusive language

I.S. Saluja

NEW YORK CITY (TIP): In a video gone viral on social media, an official at the Indian Consulate in New York is seen in a state of agitation and gesticulating threateningly and heard saying to a woman ‘take your money & go’.  He is seen in the video returning the paperwork and money to the woman.

It was on November 23 thatTina Banerjee and her husband Ronnie D’Costa went to the Indian Consulate to get an emergency visa to fly out to India where the woman’s father had expired.

The video shows the two sides arguing, with the consulate official visibly angry and Tina asking him again and again why he was angry. While the couple alleged misbehavior by the official Vijay Shankar Prasad, a Visa Consul, the latter claimed that the couple had used provocative and abusive language.

Senior members of the Consulate intervened, and the visa was issued, and the couple could take the flight, as per their schedule the same evening. The Deputy Consul General Mr. Varun Jeph, on December 2, told The Indian Panorama that the Consulate had taken note of the conduct of the official and taken necessary action, of course, without any prejudice. He also said that the conduct of all involved was the subject of investigation. He added that the consulate staff empathized with everybody placed in a similar situation as Tina Banerjee was, and they saw to it that all assistance was provided as quickly as possible. He mentioned that New York Consulate is the only consulate that works on all seven days, including holidays to serve the community. Earlier, the Consul General Randhir Kumar Jaiswal, in a conversation with The Indian Panorama editor expressed regret over the incident, saying he will have the incident investigated. It is learnt that the couple has since regretted their outburst.