Gurmeet Singh (55), who worked as a taxi driver, had reportedly kidnapped and raped a woman at a knifepoint in New York in 2011.

Sharing details about his act, the US Department of Justice said in a statement: "In May 2011 — mere weeks before he filed his application to naturalise as a U.S. citizen — Singh, a taxicab driver at the time, drove a female passenger who fell asleep during her ride home to a location with no witnesses."

"When his passenger awoke, she found Singh on top of her with a knife against her throat. He threatened her, bound and gagged her, blindfolded her, removed her clothes, and raped her," the statement said.

The victim escaped from the cab and ran to someone in the streets at dawn for help.

The department said Singh concealed these acts throughout his naturalisation proceedings, leading to his becoming a U.S. citizen on Oct. 19, 2011.

" After naturalising, Singh was convicted in New York of Rape in the First Degree and Kidnapping in the Second Degree as a Sexually Motivated Felony and sentenced to 20 years in prison," the statement said.

The Aug. 26 order, revoking Singh’s naturalisation, follows a complaint the Justice Department filed on February 2.

Speaking on the decision taken by the US government,  Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement: " Gurmeet Singh, a convicted rapist from India, is no longer a U.S. citizen."

"He concealed a rape and kidnapping during the naturalisation process, and a federal court has now revoked his citizenship. This Department took this case across the finish line, and we will continue to move expeditiously on denaturalization referrals. Fraudulently obtained citizenship will not protect criminals from justice," Blanche said.

As per the US State Department,  Singh entered the United States in February 1992 as a visitor for a temporary period not to exceed six months.

He then remained in the United States without authorisation for years until a family-based immigrant visa petition allowed him to become a permanent resident in June 2000.