New Delhi, January 05: Agencies in charge of VIP security in India were in the dark about the presence of another uninvited guest at the Nov 24 White House state dinner and have sought details from the US Secret Service of the third crasher who reportedly got in with the official Indian delegation.
“We have no official information from the Secret Service about this incident and were unaware of this. But we have asked for information. Strictly this is not our domain,” said a top Special Protection Group official, who accompanied Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Washington.
The Secret Service of the US confirmed that there was another uninvited guest at the Nov 24 White House state dinner besides the celebrity hounding gate-crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi.
US daily Washington Post identified the man as Carlos Allen, a D.C. party promoter who runs an event space in Mount Pleasant.
Unlike the Salahis, this newly revealed crasher got into the White House with the official Indian delegation, according to a Secret Service statement. Allen, a US citizen, was among a group of business leaders.
The SPG, responsible for the protection of the prime minister, has not raised any objection with the Secret Service.
“It will be interesting to know how this happened,” said the official.
According to the congressional source cited by the Post the third gate crasher rode from the Indian embassy to the Willard Hotel, where Manmohan Singh and his delegation were staying, with the entourage of Indian officials.
However, a spokesman for the Indian Embassy said that the crasher was not a member of the delegation and that the embassy did not arrange for his access.
–Agencies