Ex-RAW  agent charged in plot to assassinate Sikh separatist

Vikash Yadav allegedly orchestrated murder-for-hire-plot against Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun

Vikash Yadav, described as a former officer in Indian’s foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing, has been charged by the Justice Department in a murder-for-hire-plot against Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen.

In a statement Thursday, the Justice Department announced the filing of murder-for-hire and money laundering charges against Yadav, 39,  who it described as an Indian government employee. India says he’s no longer employed by the government.

Yadav’s alleged co-conspirator, Nikhil Gupta, 53, was charged last year and extradited to the United States. Yadav, who is known by the aliases Vikas and Amanat, remains at large, according to the indictment.

The indictment detailed how Yadav recruited Gupta in 2023 to arrange the assassination, and contacted an individual at Yadav’s direction who they believed to be a hit man in New York City.

US officials said they began investigating when Gupta, in his search for a hitman, contacted a narcotics trafficker who turned out to be a Drug Enforcement Administration informant.

“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,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

The indictment comes as an Indian government committee investigating Indian involvement in a foiled murder plot against a prominent activist in New York City met US officials in Washington, DC.

READ: India slams Washington Post report on Pannun assassination plot (April 30, 2024)

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that the State Department is “satisfied with cooperation” from India and “it continues to be an ongoing process.”

In 2023, Yadav, working together with others, including Gupta, in India, and elsewhere, directed a plot to assassinate on US soil an attorney and political activist who is a US citizen of Indian origin residing in New York City, the second superseding indictment alleged without naming Pannu n.

Yadav was at that time employed by the Government of India’s Cabinet Secretariat, which houses Indian’s foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing, the Justice Department stated.

Yadav has described his position as a “senior field officer” with responsibilities in “security management” and “intelligence.” Yadav also has referenced previously serving in India’s Central Reserve Police Force and receiving “officer training” in “battle craft” and “weapons.”

READ: Indian man extradited to US for alleged plot to kill (June 17, 2024)

In or about May 2023, Yadav recruited Gupta to orchestrate the assassination of the victim in the United States, Justice department alleged. Gupta is an Indian national who resided in India and has described his involvement in international narcotics and weapons trafficking in his communications with Yadav and others.

At Yadav’s direction, Gupta contacted an individual whom Gupta believed to be a criminal associate, but who was in fact a confidential source working with the DEA, for assistance in contracting a hitman to murder the victim in New York City.

The source introduced Gupta to a purported hitman, who was in fact a DEA undercover officer. Yadav subsequently agreed, in dealings brokered by Gupta, to pay him $100,000 to murder the victim, the indictment alleged.

On or about June 9, 2023, Yadav and Gupta arranged for an associate to deliver $15,000 in cash to the undercover as an advance payment for the murder. Yadav’s associate then delivered the $15,000 to the undercover 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 undercover.

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 undercover to carry out the murder as soon as possible, but Gupta also specifically instructed the undercover 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.

On or about June 18, 2023, about 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.

As alleged in the indictment, on or about June 19, 2023, the day after the Nijjar 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, “It’s a  priority now.”

Yadav and Gupta have been charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; and conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.