Indian Ambassador to Sudan Deepak Vohra had to face harassment at an airport in a southern part of the African country with some Security and Customs officials speaking rudely to him and insisting on checking his baggage before being loaded on a plane.
An embarrassed Sudanese Government has reprimanded four Security and Customs officials for the incident that occurred at Juba Airport last Thursday when Vohra was returning to Khartoum.
Giving details of the incident, sources said Vohra's baggage was stopped at the airport by some officials who wanted to check it despite the immunity to ambassadors from such measures.
The baggage, containing fruits was clearly marked as 'Embassy of India, Khartoum'.
The staff accompanying Vohra's baggage pointed out that since the baggage belonged to the ambassador, it cannot be checked, the sources said.
The officials refused to relent as they were apparently looking for some bribe.
The ambassador also arrived at the airport and the matter was reported to the local government.
Two officials also spoke rudely to Vohra in the VIP lounge of the airport, asking him to open the baggage or pay money, failing which they would not allow it to be loaded.
They also asked him to produce relevant "documents" and when he showed his diplomatic passport, they disregarded it and told him to "throw" it away.
The issue was sorted out when the Chief of Security of the province came to the airport and reprimanded those responsible for the harassment to the ambassador, the sources said.
The local government has also initiated a probe into the incident.