New Delhi: The US will not be “fully satisfied” unless there is “meaningful accountability” in India’s high-level inquiry into its officials allegedly involved in the foiled murder-for-hire plot to kill New York-based Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an India-designated terrorist.
Vedant Patel, the principal deputy spokesperson at the US Department of State, said during a press briefing Tuesday: “We continue to expect and want to see accountability based on the results of that investigation, and certainly the United States won’t be fully satisfied until there is meaningful accountability resulting from that investigation.”
Patel also said that there was “valuable engagement” between American authorities and the Indian high-level inquiry last week, adding, “we understand that the Indian inquiry committee will continue its investigation, and we expect to see further steps based on last week’s conversations”.
On 18 November 2023, the Indian government set up a high-level inquiry committee to look into evidence shared by the US on an alleged plot to assassinate Pannun. As per the two indictments unsealed by the US Justice Department in the last year, at least two Indian citizens, including one government official, were allegedly behind the plot to kill Pannun.
The superseding indictment unsealed last week identifies Vikash Yadav— then an agent with the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)—as the alleged mastermind behind the plot. Yada vallegedly got in touch with Nikhil Gupta, the other Indian citizen named by the US Justice Department, who acted as a middleman in carrying out the alleged plan.
Gupta, who is in US custody, appeared before judge Victor Marrero on 18 October and pleaded not guilty. His next court appearance is scheduled for 17 January. Gupta, on Yadav’s orders, reached out to a contact in the US, allegedly to find a hitman for the murder. The contact was a confidential informant for American law enforcement and introduced Gupta to a ‘hitman’ who was in fact an undercover officer.
Yadav and Gupta allegedly agreed to pay the ‘hitman’ $1,00,000 to carry out the killing of Pannun sometime in June last year. An advance of $15,000 was paid, according to the unsealed indictment.
While the alleged plot did not go forward, Gupta left India for Prague on 30 June 2023, where he was immediately detained by local authorities at the request of the US. The 53-year-old was extradited to the US on 14 June 2024, where he remains in the detention facility MDC Brooklyn.
India’s high-level inquiry has been looking at the evidence shared by Washington D.C. The Ministry of External Affairs confirmed last week that Yadav had been dismissed from government service.
Yadav, who waited nine years to become a permanent officer at R&AW in October 2023, was arrested in December last year based on a complaint of kidnapping and assault filed against him, as reported by ThePrint. He was given interim bail earlier this year.
Two members of the Indian inquiry committee visited the US last week and interacted with officials there.
While India continues to investigate evidence shared by the US, it rejects any links to the killing of Canada-based Hardeep Singh Nijjar—another India designated terrorist—who was gunned down in British Columbia in June 2023.
The Canadian government has accused Indian officials of having links to the killing of Nijjar, but no evidence has been shared till date, according to New Delhi. The allegations have since spiralled into a diplomatic chill between the two countries.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)