File image of Vikash Yadav, released by the United States Department of Justice.
U.S. prosecutors accused a former Indian government employee of directing a foiled plot to kill pro-Khalistan separatist figure Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in a case that has disrupted the India-US relations and mirrors a 2023 killing in Canada.
The accused Vikash Yadav was identified thus far as CC-1, in the original indictment filed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) in 2023. This comes almost 11 months after the first U.S. indictment uncovering the alleged plot.
Another Indian, Nikhil Gupta, was charged last year and is currently being detained in Brooklyn, following his arrest in the Czech Republic last year. Mr. Yadav, it is alleged, had recruited Mr. Gupta to find a hitman and have Pannun killed.
Who is Vikash Yadav?
On Friday, U.S. prosecutors in New York announced the “filing of murder-for-hire and money laundering charges against Indian government employee Vikash Yadav, a/k/a “Vikas,” a/k/a “Amanat,” in connection with his role in directing a foiled plot to assassinate a U.S. citizen in New York City.
According to the Sealed Superseding Indictment of the United States District Court, Mr. Yadav was employed by the Cabinet Secretariat of the Government of India, which houses India’s foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing (“R&AW”). Mr. Yadav has described his position as a “Senior Field Officer” with responsibilities in “Security Management” and “Intelligence.” He also has served in India’s largest paramilitary force – Central Reserve Police Force.
As per a ‘wanted’ notice issued by the FBI, Mr. Yadav was born in Haryana in 1984 and used “Amanat” as an alias when communicating with his co-conspirator, Nikhil Gupta, to facilitate the murder plot. He was an “Assistant Commandant,” at the CRPF with command of a 135-man company.
The DoJ document alleges Mr. Yadav provided information, such as the victim’s residential addresses, phone numbers, and other identifying information, to the Indian national in furtherance of the plot”.
The MEA has said that “the individual named in the U.S. indictment in Pannun case” is no longer an employee of the Indian government. “The U.S. State Department informed us that the individual mentioned in the indictment is no longer employed by India. I confirm that he is no longer an employee of the Government of India,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal announced at a press briefing.
Also Read: Pannun case: Unwarranted, unsubstantiated imputations, says India on media report
What is the Gurpatwant Singh Pannun murder plot?
U.S. authorities believe the alleged plot to kill pro-Khalistani Sikh separatist, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is wanted on terror charges in India, was ordered by the previous chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), and had official sanction from senior intelligence officials with “with ties to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inner circle”, the Washington Post, a U.S.-national daily, reported.
The Pannun murder plot involves a foiled assassination attempt targeting Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a vocal critic of the Indian government and advocate for a separate Sikh state, Khalistan. Pannun, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen, was allegedly targeted by Indian intelligence in a murder-for-hire plot. U.S. authorities charged Vikash Yadav, a former Indian intelligence official, with orchestrating the plan. According to the indictment, Mr. Yadav collaborated with other Indian agents to execute the plot in New York City in 2023.
The indictment alleges that Mr. Yadav along with his co-conspirator Nikhil Gupta plotted to kill the Sikh separatist leader . For this Mr. Gupta hired an individual to do the job. The unidentified individual, who was an informant to the FBI, asked for $100,000 for the job and received $15,000 as an advance payment on June 9, 2023.
What is the role of Vikash Yadav in the Nijjar killing?
Relations between India and Canada have been under a severe strain since September last year, when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told his Parliament that there was evidence linking Indian agents to the assassination of Nijjar, a Sikh separatist who was shot dead in Surrey, Canada in June 2023.
The indictment reveals that there was a link between the murder of Sikh separatist Nijjar in Canada during the same period. Federal prosecutors have shared communications between Mr. Yadav, Mr. Gupta and the alleged killer in the two incidents.
Also Read: Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Sikh activist whose killing has divided Canada and India?
While Mr. Gupta was arrested, Mr. Yadav remains at large, and the investigation continues amidst tense geopolitical relations between India and Canada.
Published – October 18, 2024 11:34 am IST
