NEW DELHI (AP) - An Indian court said Thursday it won’t rule before July 1 in the case of a New York City police officer arrested in New Delhi on a weapons charge.
The New York Police Department said that Manny Encarnacion was arrested in March after Indian authorities discovered three bullets he had accidentally packed in his luggage. He is out on bail, but has been barred from leaving India until the case is resolved.
Encarnacion’s attorney, Samarjeet Pattnaik, said the court heard a petition to throw out the arrest but gave no ruling.
Judge Sunil Gaur extended Encarnacion’s bail until July 1, the next date for hearing arguments in the case, Pattnaik said.
In New York, police Commissioner William J. Bratton said in a statement that “We are currently working with the State Department in an effort to resolve this situation.”
Encarnacion has been detained under the Indian Arms Act. If convicted, he can be sentenced to up to three years in prison, Pattnaik said. He was arrested in New Delhi, where he was visiting his wife.
The officer had gone to the department firing range before he left for India and put the bullets in a coat pocket, according to the New York police. He packed the coat for the trip, forgetting that the ammunition was there, police officials said in New York.
The arrest follows a furor between the United States and India over the arrest of a female Indian diplomat in New York City who was strip-searched. But Indian authorities say the arrest had nothing to do with the diplomatic spat.
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