Gurpatwant Pannun assassination attempt: US charges India’s ex-RAW official for plotting to kill Sikh separatist

The US Justice Department announced it has charged a “former Indian intelligence officer” – identified as Vikas Yadav – for allegedly directing a foiled plot to murder a Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who advocates for the creation of Khalistan.

The development comes hours after India and the United States, in the first official confirmation, on Thursday said a person identified as “CC1” in the US Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment — linked to an alleged plot to kill US-based Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun — was “no longer an employee of the Indian government”.

The ministry of external affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also confirmed the visit of the high-level Indian enquiry committee — established to review the evidence shared by the US government regarding the alleged involvement of Indian national Nikhil Gupta and an Indian official in the Gurpatwant Singh Pannun plot. The visit was first announced by the US on Monday.

Nikhil Gupta, who was arrested from Prague last year and deported to the US, is currently being prosecuted in the US. The US Justice Department had said an Indian government employee, only identified as CC1 in the indictment, had recruited Nikhil Gupta to hire a hitman to carry out the assassination that was foiled by US authorities.

An indictment of the Vikas Yadav was ordered to be unsealed on Thursday, news agency Reuters reported. The US Justice Department indictment claimed that Vikas Yadav as a former officer in India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RA&W) spy service.

The US has alleged that Indian agents were involved in an attempted assassination plot against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen.

Pannun plot: Who is Vikas Yadav?

Vikas Yadav, 39, who is believed to be no longer a government employee, has been charged with three counts, including murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

He “remains at large”, the Department of Justice said.

“The FBI will not tolerate acts of violence or other efforts to retaliate against those residing in the U.S. for exercising their constitutionally protected rights,” FBI director Christopher Wray said in a statement.

The indictment alleged that beginning in May 2023, Vikas Yadav, described as an employee of the Indian government at the time, worked together with others in India and abroad to direct a plot against Pannun.

India has labeled Sikh separatists as “terrorists” and as threats to its security.

The indictment said Yadav had hired Nikhil Gupta whom the US Justice Department has previously charged with trying to arrange the murder of Pannun at the behest of the Indian intelligence official.

Yadav recruited Gupta “to orchestrate the assassination of the victim in the United States”, the indictment, filed in federal court in Manhattan, said.

Gupta traveled to Prague from India last June and was arrested by Czech authorities before being extradited to the US where he pleaded not guilty in a court in June.

“Today’s charges demonstrate that the Justice Department will not tolerate attempts to target and endanger Americans and to undermine the rights to which every US citizen is entitled,” US Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said.

The Indian government has denied its association or involvement with such a plot to kill an American national on US soil. Following allegations by the US, New Delhi had set up an inquiry committee to investigate the matter. The US has expressed satisfaction on cooperation from India on this.

Unsealing of the second indictment comes within 48 hours of an Indian Enquiry Committee visiting the US to have a meeting with an inter-agency team of officials from the FBI, Department of Justice and the State Department on these issues.

“We are satisfied with the cooperation. It continues to be an ongoing process. We continue to work with them on that, but we do appreciate the cooperation, and we appreciate them updating us on their investigation as we update them on ours,” State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Wednesday.