In Pannun Case, US Announces Charges Against Indian Man, MEA Says He's No Longer A Govt Employee

The US Justice Department has announced criminal charges against Vikash Yadav, a former Indian government employee, and has accused him of allegedly orchestrating a failed plot to kill Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun who resides in New York City. The US has charged Yadav, previously associated with the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), of “murder-for-hire”.

The charges by the US come as an Indian inquiry committee, set up in connection with an alleged foiled plot to kill Pannun, had a meeting with officials in Washington. Following the meeting, India on Thursday said it has taken inputs provided by the US “very seriously”

During a press briefing on Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, responding to a query on the person identified by the US in the Pannun case, said he was no longer an employee of the Indian government.

“The US State Department informed us that the individual in the Justice Department indictment is no longer employed by India. I confirm that he is no longer an employee of the Government of India,” the MEA spokesperson said.

In charging Yadav, the Biden administration sought to call out the Indian government for criminal activity that has emerged as a significant point of tension between India and the West over the last year — culminating this week with a diplomatic flare-up with Canada and the expulsion of diplomats.

According to the charges by the US, Yadav, who was not identified in the indictment filed in a federal court in Manhattan, recruited an Indian national named Nikhil Gupta to hire a hitman to assassinate Pannun, which was foiled by US authorities.

The plot allegedly began in May 2023, with Yadav, then reportedly an employee of the Indian government, allegedly collaborated with individuals in India and overseas to execute the assassination. Nikhil Gupta was extradited to the United States in June from the Czech Republic after his arrest in Prague last year.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is an India-designated terrorist who holds American and Canadian citizenship.

On October 14, Canada said it had identified India’s top diplomat in the country as a “person of interest” in the assassination of terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar there and expelled him and five other diplomats.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and police officials went public this week with allegations that Indian diplomats were targeting Sikh separatists in Canada by sharing information about them with their government back home. They said top Indian officials were then passing that information along to Indian organised crime groups who were targeting the activists, who are Canadian citizens, with drive-by shootings, extortions and even murder.

India, for its part, has rejected the accusations as absurd, and its foreign ministry said it was expelling Canada’s acting high commissioner and five other diplomats in response.

NO SUCH INDIVIDUAL WITH INDIAN INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES: SOURCES TELL CNN-NEWS18

Hours after the US charges, sources told CNN-News18 that the Indian government was cooperating with the US on their charges against the Indian national. However, they said, “no such individual (as named by the US) is working with Indian Intelligence agencies”.

Sources with the government also said, “Indian Intelligence does not hire hitmen”.

“It is important to probe where is this individual and what is his problem with Punnun. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is spreading hatred and speaking against India daily. This individual must have some individual problems with Punnun because of his conduct,” they said.

Sources also said, “India will go all out to help the US in this probe and officials have already reached out to collect details. Once we have everything, we will probe at the highest level and inform our counterparts.”

The Indian government is very clear that no terror activities have been carried out by any Indian intelligence agencies,” they said.

PANNUN MURDER PLOT

According to the allegations levelled earlier, Nikhil Gupta is an associate of an employee of the Indian government and that together they and others helped plot the assassination of Pannun in New York City.

Earlier in June, Gupta (52) was extradited from the Czech Republic to the US to stand trial, where he pleaded ‘not guilty.’

India in November last year formed a high-level inquiry committee to address the security concerns highlighted by the US government. The Ministry of External Affairs said that India takes such inputs seriously since they impinge on national security interests as well, and relevant departments were already examining the issue.

Meanwhile, the United States earlier said that the meeting with the Indian Inquiry Committee regarding the Pannun case was “productive” and Washington was “satisfied” with the cooperation.

US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller expressed satisfaction with India’s cooperation in the investigation.

Regarding the alleged involvement of an Indian government official in the assassination plan of Pannun, Miller informed that the person “is no longer an employee of the Indian government.”

“It was a productive meeting. They did inform us that the individual who was named in the Justice Department indictment is no longer an employee of the Indian government. 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,” Miller said.