Washington: The mystery over the entry of
a "third gatecrasher" into the White House for the Obama-Singh
state dinner deepened today, with the Indian Embassy making it
clear that it did not "seek or facilitate any access" for him.
The Secret Service yesterday claimed an "uninvited"
member sneaked into the White House by boarding a bus of the
Indian delegation.
Though the agency has not yet disclosed the identity,
the US media named him as Carlos Allen, a 39-year-old American
entrepreneur, who travelled to the White House in the bus
"carrying top Indian CEOs who were last-minute invitees to the
state dinner".
The Indian mission, however, denied any such
"uninvited individual" was part of the country's delegation.
"The person is not known to Indian Embassy. We did not seek or
facilitate any access for this person," Spokesman Rahul
Chhabra said.
Though the Indian Embassy didn't release the names
of the CEOs who were in that group, Chhabra said: "The Embassy
had requested for arrangements to be made for invited Indian
CEOs who were part of the CEOs' Forum and were staying at
Willard Hotel to be taken to the state dinner."
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, January 06, 2010, 18:28