US ‘expects India’s accountability’ in probe linking RAW officer to Pannun plot

The United States has said it expects “accountability” from the Indian government on allegations related to the plot to assassinate Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil.

The development comes after India on Tuesday rejected a report in the Washington Post, alleging that a former Indian intelligence officer plotted to assassinate Pannun.

Addressing the media, US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said, “We continue to expect accountability from the Government of India based on the results of the Indian enquiry committee’s work, and we are regularly working with them and enquiring for additional updates.”

“We’ll also continue to raise our concerns directly with the Indian Government at senior levels, but beyond that, I’m not going to parse into this further and will defer to the Department of Justice,” Patel said when asked about the report, which identified the (Research and Analysis Wing) RAW officer as Vikram Yadav and alleged that he was involved in the plot to assassinate Pannun.

The report claimed that Yadav, a former RAW officer, hired a hit team to target Pannun, a designated terrorist by India who resides in the United States.

Later, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal slammed the report, saying, “The report in question makes unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter.”

Jaiswal said a high-level inquiry committee set up by New Delhi to look into inputs provided by the US on the alleged plot was still probing the case.

In November last year, US federal prosecutors charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta with working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Pannun.

Pannun, wanted in India on terror charges, holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada. He has been designated as a terrorist by the Union Home Ministry under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The allegations about the failed plot to kill Pannun came to the fore weeks after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed in September last year of the “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia.

India had strongly rejected the charges.