US says wants meaningful accountability from India in Pannun murder plot probe

The US said that it wants to see meaningful accountability from India in its investigation into the foiled assassination plot of Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

While addressing a press briefing on Tuesday, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said “the US won’t be fully satisfied until there is meaningful accountability resulting from that investigation”. Patel’s remarks came a week after State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that Washington was “satisfied” following a meeting with an Indian inquiry committee set up to probe the case.

Regarding the meeting with the inquiry committee, the Deputy Spokesperson acknowledged that “there was valuable engagement and information was exchanged between our two governments to further our respective investigations”. “We understand that the Indian inquiry committee will continue its investigation, and we expect to see further steps based on last week’s conversations,” he added.

Patel refused to share additional information on the issue, saying the US and India were both currently engaged in investigating the case and the issue remains active. While addressing the media last week, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the Indian inquiry committee had informed the US that the individual who was accused of directing the assassination plot on American soil is “no longer an employee of the Indian government”.

“They did inform us that the individual who was named in the Justice Department indictment is no longer an employee of the Indian government,” he added. Former R&AW officer Vikram Yadav, who was arrested in Delhi, is currently on bail. He has been accused by the US of being involved in the conspiracy to kill Pannun. He was referred to as ‘CC-1’ in the State Department indictment.

Besides probing the foiled plot to assassinate the Khalistani terrorist, the inquiry committee is also investigating the activities of certain organised criminals. In November 2023, US prosecutors charged Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, for his involvement in the conspiracy alongside the alleged Indian government official.

Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic in June and extradited to the US on June 14. Following his extradition, he was produced before a federal court in New York where he pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. He faces charges of murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, each carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Pannun holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada, and is wanted in India on terror charges. He has been designated a terrorist under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. India has denied any involvement in the alleged attempt to assassinate Pannun and launched a high-level investigation into the case.