Vikram Yadav, a former officer associated with India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), is accused of organising a plot to attack Sikh leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on US soil, according to a report from the Washington Post.
The report suggests that Yadav, now reportedly working with another government agency, provided Pannun’s New York address to a hired hit team.
However, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs declined to comment on the Washington Post’s claims. The alleged conspiracy came to light in November 2022.
As per a previous report of Financial Times, the US had thwarted an assassination attempt on Pannun, warning India about its suspected involvement in the plot.
India strongly refuted these accusations, citing them as contrary to government policy, and initiated a high-level inquiry committee on November 18, 2023, to investigate the allegations.
An indictment in a Manhattan court implicated Nikhil Gupta, who allegedly colluded with an Indian government official—referred to as ‘CC-1’—to plan Pannun’s murder. Gupta, arrested in the Czech Republic on June 30, 2023, reportedly agreed to pay $100,000 to an assassin, with an initial payment of $15,000 made on June 9, 2023, as per US officials.
“The report in question makes unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
“There is an ongoing investigation of the high level committee set up by the Government of India to look into the security concerns shared by the US government on networks of organised criminals, terrorists and others,” he said.
