Ex-RAW official charged in US over alleged plot to assassinate Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun | CliqExplainer

The United States has charged former Indian intelligence officer Vikash Yadav for allegedly orchestrating a failed plot to assassinate Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who resides in New York City. The US Justice Department has indicted Yadav on charges of murder-for-hire and money laundering in connection with the alleged assassination attempt.

The plot reportedly began in May 2023, when Yadav, a former official of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), collaborated with co-conspirators in India and abroad to eliminate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is designated as a terrorist by the Indian government due to his involvement with the Khalistan movement, which seeks an independent Sikh state in Punjab.

Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national accused of being recruited by Yadav to carry out the plot, was arrested in Prague in June 2023 while traveling from India. Gupta was later extradited to the US, where he pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit murder. The indictment detailed Yadav’s alleged plan, which included hiring Gupta to orchestrate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun’s assassination on American soil.

Urgency surrounded the plot after the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, another Khalistani terrorist, in Canada in 2023. Gupta reportedly believed that Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s death made it unnecessary to delay Gurpatwant Singh Pannun’s assassination. The conspirators offered $100,000 to an individual to execute the killing, but they soon discovered that their hired assassin was actually an FBI informant.

The indictment reveals that just before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US, the FBI informant received a $15,000 advance for the murder in a car in New York, with photographic evidence included in the court documents. Yadav allegedly instructed Gupta and the informant to postpone the assassination until after Modi’s visit to avoid diplomatic fallout.

In response to the allegations, India’s Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that Yadav is no longer employed by the Indian government. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reiterated that Yadav’s association with the Indian government had ended.

The US State Department acknowledged India’s cooperation in the investigation. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller confirmed that Indian officials had met with US agencies to discuss the case, expressing satisfaction with the ongoing collaboration.

In a related civil suit, a US court issued a summons to the Indian government in September over Gurpatwant Singh Pannun’s allegations of an assassination plot. India has labeled the summons as “completely unwarranted.”

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