Indian protest
© Mahesh Kumar A./AP Outraged ... Protests outside the US consulate in Hyderabad.
Thousands of Indian protesters have expressed outrage at the US over the arrest of a female Indian diplomat and her invasive body probe by New York police.

On Wednesday, large crowds of Indian protesters took to streets in New Delhi and several other major cities to vent their anger at the US. They were protesting the arrest and strip-search of a female Indian diplomat in New York.

The main venue of the protests was outside the US Embassy compound in New Delhi.

The building has no barricades now to protect it from possible attacks. Earlier in the day, New Delhi police used tow trucks to remove the barriers along the embassy in retaliation.

India is furious after its Deputy Consul General Devyani Khobragade was arrested and strip-searched by US police.

The diplomat says she broke down after repeated handcuffing, stripping and cavity searches.

India has called the move humiliating and completely unacceptable. The Indian foreign minister has spoken about the measures against the US.

Lawmakers at the Indian parliament are urging the government to take the issue very seriously.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has ordered the revocation of all ID cards issued by the ministry to officials at US consulates across the country. The issuance of all import clearances for the American Embassy will be also stopped.

On Tuesday, top Indian politicians refused to meet with a US Congressional delegation over the arrest.

India's opposition candidate for the position of prime minister, Narendra Modi, said on Tuesday that he along with other top politicians have declined to meet with the five-member US team due to the detention of India's deputy consul general.

The developments come after the US used sophisticated equipment to spy on the Indian Embassy in Washington and India's UN office in New York.

Reports say the US National Security Agency (NSA) has targeted Indian diplomatic mission on the US soil over the past few months.

The US spies reportedly bugged telephone lines of the Indian diplomatic missions and copied their hard disks.

India is on a top secret list of countries targeted for intensive spying. The latest developments are set to deteriorate relations between the two countries.