US: Former Indian Spy charged over alleged Khalistani terrorist Pannun murder plot

The FBI has warned against retaliation aimed at US residents, with the indictment highlighting Yadav's past role in India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Washington's claims of Indian agents' involvement in the plot.

Amid the ongoing proceedings between India and the US concerning the alleged foiled plot to kill Sikh separatist Gurupatwant Singh Pannun, the United States on Thursday (October 17) charged ex-Indian government employee Vikash Yadav (also known as Vikas or Amanat) for 'orchestrating this intricate murder-for-hire scheme'.

In a statement released, the US Justice Department announced that Yadav has been charged with murder-for-hire and money laundering. This was the second superseding indictment carried out by the authorities, following Nikhil Gupta's, who was previously charged and extradited to the United States for co-conspiring in the assassination plot.

“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. As alleged last year, we foiled an attempt by Vikash Yadav, an Indian government employee, and his co-conspirator, Nikhil Gupta, to assassinate an American citizen on U.S. soil. Today’s charges demonstrate that the Justice Department will not tolerate attempts to target and endanger Americans and to undermine the rights to which every U.S. citizen is entitled,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in connection to the case. 

Significantly, as alleged in the second superseding indictment and other public court documents, in 2023, Yadav was charged with working together with others, including Gupta, in India and elsewhere, directing a plot to assassinate Khalistani terrorist Pannun, which was foiled by US authorities.

What has been mentioned in the indictment

According to US authorities, a detailed overview of the case presents Vikash Yadav, an employee of the Government of India’s Cabinet Secretariat (which houses India’s foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing), as the director of the plot to assassinate Pannun from India. These charges, however, have been denied by Indian authorities.

What the US revealed in its investigation

Regarding the chronology of the incident, US authorities mentioned that it was first in May 2023 when Yadav recruited Gupta to orchestrate the assassination of Pannun in the United States. They stated that at Yadav’s direction, Gupta then contacted an individual whom he believed to be a member of a criminal nexus for assistance in contracting a hitman to carry out the murder. However, this individual was a confidential source (CS) working with the DEA. The CS then introduced Gupta to a purported hitman, who was, in fact, again a  DEA undercover officer (UC). The document by the US Justice Department mentioned, Yadav subsequently agreed, through dealings brokered by Gupta, to pay the UC $100,000 to murder the victim and they also arranged for an associate to deliver $15,000 in cash to the UC as an advance payment too. Yadav’s associate then delivered the $15,000 to the UC in Manhattan.

"In or about June 2023, in furtherance of the assassination plot, Yadav provided Gupta with personal information about the victim, including the victim’s home address in New York City, phone numbers associated with the victim, and details about the victim’s day-to-day conduct, which Gupta then passed to the UC. 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 UC to carry out the murder as soon as possible, but Gupta also specifically instructed the UC not to commit the murder around the time of the Indian Prime Minister’s official state visit to the United States, which was scheduled to begin on or about June 20, 2023," the US Justice Department order reads.

"On or about June 18, 2023, approximately two days before the Indian Prime Minister’s state visit to the United States, masked gunmen murdered Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia, Canada. Nijjar was an associate of the victim and, like the victim, was a leader of the Sikh separatist movement and an outspoken critic of the Indian government. On or about June 19, 2023, the day after Nijjar’s murder, Gupta told the UC 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 the victim. On or about June 20, 2023, Yadav sent Gupta a news article about the victim and messaged Gupta, '[i]t’s [a] priority now,'" it added.

Meanwhile, it is pertinent to note that amid the US claims, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) earlier confirmed that the "individual" named in the US Justice Department's indictment is no longer associated with the Indian government.

"The US State Department informed us that the individual in the Justice Department 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 added.

(With inputs from agencies)