US files charges against ex Indian official in foiled Pannun murder plot, FBI issues arrest warant
The US Justice Department has charged former Indian intelligence officer for allegedly directing a thwarted plot to murder Sikhs for Justice chief and a US citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun
PTC News Desk: The US Justice Department has charged former Indian intelligence officer for allegedly directing a thwarted plot to murder Sikhs for Justice chief and a US citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The officer has been identified as Vikas Yadav. Following the indictment, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released a wanted poster for Yadav.
Hailing from Haryana, 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, according to the information released on the poster.
The development comes hours after India and the United States, in the first official confirmation, on Thursday said a person identified as “CC1” in the US Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment — linked to an alleged plot to kill US-based Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun — was “no longer an employee of the Indian government”.
In a statement, the US Justice Department said, "Yadav is charged in a second superseding indictment unsealed today in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. Yadav's alleged co-conspirator, Nikhil Gupta, 53, was previously charged and extradited to the United States on the charges contained in the first superseding indictment. Yadav remains at large." Earlier Nikhil Gupta was arrested and extradited to US on the charges to orchestrate the assassination of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and currently being prosecuted for the same.
Attorney General Merrick B Garland has assured that the justice department is commited for the protection of its citizens and to hold accountable any individual responsivle for harming US citizens."The Justice Department will be relentless in holding accountable any person -- regardless of their position or proximity to power -- who seeks to harm and silence American citizens," Merrick B Garland said. Both US and Indian government confirmed that the visit of the high-level Indian enquiry committee which was established to review the evidence shared by the US government to against Involvment of Indian National Gupta in Pannun plot.
Garland further said that the US has foiled an attempt by Vikash Yadav and his co-conspirator Nikhil Gupta to assassinate an American citizen on US soil.