US Charges Former Indian Intelligence Officer In Alleged Sikh Separatist's Murder Conspiracy (X image @MrSinha_)
US charged former Indian Intelligence officer Vikash Yadav in an alleged plot to kill US-Canadian citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh separatist. Yadav was previously affiliated with India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). He now faces serious allegations following the unsealing of an indictment.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a wanted poster for Yadav. The US justice department announced that while Yadav is not in custody, currently, he faces charges of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and money laundering.
Justice Department Announces Charges Against Indian Government Employee in Connection with Foiled Plot to Assassinate U.S. Citizen in New York City https://t.co/80PSJB0q8M @NewYorkFBI pic.twitter.com/Qc6NniIFQd
— FBI (@FBI) October 17, 2024
Reportedly, US has been reluctant to charge Yadav, believed to maintain its relation with India positive, and push forward for a thorough investigation by the Indian authorities.
On Tuesday, a committee from the Indian government, responsible for looking into its potential role in the foiled murder plot, met with U.S. officials in Washington, and American representatives described the meeting as productive, said media report.
The 39-year-old was charged with “murder-for-hire and money laundering” linked with the scheme to “kill the Sikh separatist leader, a US citizen of Indian origin who lives in New York, the department said in a statement”, said AP.
As per FBI, Yadav is an Indian national based in India and used ‘Amanat’ as an alias when communicating with his co-conspirator, another Indian national, to facilitate the murder plot.
Pannun is linked with Sikhs for Justice, a New York-based group advocating for the secession of Punjab from India. The justice department said Yadav directed the plot and hired Gupta to find a hitman.
The US Justice Department also mention Nikhil Gupta, who was previously pleaded not guilty after being extradited from the Czech Republic in June. The department claimed that Gupta contacted someone he believed was a criminal associate, who turned out to be a confidential source working with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
As per the department’s press release, in June 2023, Yadav provided Gupta with personal information about Pannun, including his address in New York City, phone numbers and details on day-to-day activities, which Gupta then passed to an undercover officer of DEA.
“Yadav directed Gupta to provide regular updates on the progress of the assassination plot, which Gupta accomplished by forwarding to Yadav, among other things, surveillance photographs of the victim. Gupta directed the undercover to carry out the murder as soon as possible, but Gupta also specifically instructed the undercover not to commit the murder around the time of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official state visit to the United States on June 20, 2023”. US said.
The move amidst heightening tension between Canada and India over the latter’s involvement the murder of Hardeep Singh Najjar, who was murdered outside a Gurudwara in British Columbia.
The Justice Department claimed that a day after Nijjar murder, Gupta told the undercover officer that Nijjar ‘was also the target’ and ‘we have so many targets.’ “Gupta added that, in light of Nijjar’s murder, there was ‘now no need to wait’ on killing Pannun. Yadav then sent Gupta a news article about the victim and messaged Gupta, “[i]t’s [a] priority now”.
Washington on Wednesday said that India had informed them that the accused intelligence operative was no longer in government service “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”, said State department spokesman Matthew Miller.
