New Delhi: The high-powered committee—set up by the Government of India to look into the allegations made by the United States about the involvement of a former Indian official in an alleged plot to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun—has submitted its report recommending legal action against the “individual”.
The US Justice Department’s first indictment in the ‘foiled plot to assassinate Pannun’ had revealed the involvement of former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) officer Vikash Yadav and drew a direct connection between Vikash Yadav and the Indian Prime Minister’s Office—an approach India’s security establishment saw as an ‘escalation’.
“After a long inquiry, the committee has submitted its report to the government and recommended legal action against an individual, whose earlier criminal links and antecedents also came to notice during the inquiry,” a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) statement said on the latest development, without naming anyone. It added that the committee recommended that the “legal action must be completed expeditiously”.
The Indian government set up the committee on 18 November 2023 to look into the allegations and inputs shared by the US authorities in the “foiled plot to assassinate” Pannun.
“On receipt of information provided by US authorities regarding activities of some organised criminal groups, terrorist organisations, drug peddlers, etc., who undermined the security interests of both India and the US, a high-powered inquiry committee was set up,” the MHA statement said.
The MHA statement further said that the committee conducted its own investigations, pursuing leads provided by the US side. “It received full cooperation from US authorities, and the two sides also exchanged visits,” the MHA statement said.
The committee members from India travelled to Washington DC in October last year as part of its investigation to discuss their findings with the US authorities.
“The members had met the US counterparts to discuss their findings. At that time, they were categorically told by the US authorities that strict action must be taken against the errant officer,” a source told ThePrint.
The MHA also said that the committee examined “a number of officials from different agencies” and “scrutinised relevant documents in this connection”. The source, however, refused to comment on whether more officers have come under the lens.
The inquiry committee also recommended “functional improvements in systems and procedures” and initiation of steps that could strengthen India’s response capability, ensure systematic controls and coordinated action in dealing with matters like the current one, the MHA statement said.
The US Justice Department, in its first indictment unsealed on 17 October, stated: “During times relevant to this superseding indictment, Yadav was employed by the Government of India’s Cabinet Secretariat, which is a part of the Indian Prime Minister’s Office. RAW is an arm of the Cabinet Secretariat.” The indictment also named Indian national Nikhil Gupta, who was first detained in Prague in June 2023 and later extradited to the US in June 2024.
Weeks after the US Justice Department unsealed the first indictment, an FIR was lodged against Yadav with the Special Cell on 17 December 2023. The FIR accused Yadav and another man of extortion in the name of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.
In November last year, The Ministry of External Affairs said that Yadav “is no longer an employee of the government of India”.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)