New Delhi: The unnamed Indian government official accused by US authorities of directing the alleged plot to murder pro-Khalistan lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil is a former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officer named Vikram Yadav, the Washington Post has reported.
It also says that Samant Goel, who was RAW chief when the plot to murder Pannun was underway, was “under extreme pressure to eliminate the alleged threat of Sikh extremists overseas”.
On whether national security adviser Ajit Doval was aware of or sanctioned the plot, the report cites US officials as saying that Doval “probably knew of or approved” RAW’s plans to kill Sikhs abroad, but that they emphasised no “smoking gun proof” had emerged.
Former Indian officials who said they knew both Goel and Doval told the Post that Goel would not have proceeded with assassination plots in North America without Doval’s approval.
In November last year, US prosecutors alleged that an Indian government official – whose identity they said they knew but identified him only as ‘CC-1’ – recruited an Indian middleman to hire a hitman to kill a US citizen who is now believed to be Pannun.
They also linked the plot to murder Pannun to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in June.
Pannun is general counsel for a New York-based organisation called Sikhs for Justice. The Indian home ministry classifies him as a terrorist.
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A day later, the Ministry of External Affairs claimed that the Washington Post story had made “unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter”. The MEA’s comment seemed to be more related to the article pointing fingers at Doval and Goel for likely having given orders for the plot. “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. Speculative and irresponsible comments on it are not helpful.”
‘Recriminations within RAW after plot failed’
The Post‘s report says citing a former Indian security official that ‘Yadav’ had joined RAW midcareer from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) rather than as a junior officer.
As a result, ‘Yadav’ “lacked training and skills needed for an operation that meant going up against sophisticated US counterintelligence capabilities”, the Post cites the unnamed former official as saying.
According to US prosecutors, the middleman ‘Yadav’ recruited to hire Pannun’s killer – an Indian citizen named Nikhil Gupta – instead ended up hiring an undercover US law enforcement officer and did so through an informant of the US’s anti-drug trafficking agency.
After the plot was foiled, the decision to have ‘Yadav’ carry out the mission “sparked recriminations” within RAW, the Post cites former Indian officials as saying.
One former official said ‘Yadav’ was transferred back to the CRPF after the failed plot unravelled.
‘RAW officers faced arrests, expulsion due to Modi government’s targeting of Sikhs abroad’
Former Indian and American officials told the Post that while RAW has traditionally been engaged in “proxy wars” with its Pakistani counterpart, it is the Narendra Modi government that has used it as a weapon to target Indian dissidents living outside the country.
Officials also said that as a result of the Modi government-controlled RAW’s escalating campaign against the Indian diaspora, officers and agents of the intelligence agency have faced arrest, expulsion and reprimand in countries including Germany, the UK and Australia.
German law enforcement has previously charged Indians with spying on Sikhs and Kashmiris living in the country.
The Post said that in Britain, RAW’s “surveillance and harassment” of Sikhs in 2014 and 2015 prompted the UK’s domestic intelligence service to deliver warnings to Goel, who was then RAW’s station chief in London.
Australian officials told the Post that the country’s intelligence chief was referring to RAW when he said in 2021 that foreign officers were caught trying to monitor their diaspora community, penetrate local police departments and steal sensitive security information from Australian airports.
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India investigating US allegations but details unknown
India had set up a high-level committee to look into the allegations made by US prosecutors, but the committee’s composition or the status of its investigation are not known.
In the last media briefing on April 25, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that “the high-level committee is looking into several information that was shared by the American side with us, because they also equally impact our national security”.
“The high-level committee is looking into those aspects and that is where it is right now,” he said.
The Post‘s report says that when the Joe Biden-led US government learned of the alleged plot to murder Pannun, it decided to exercise restraint in taking punitive steps against India but also push the Indian government to take action against those it finds responsible for the plot.
It adds that in an attempt to contain the fallout from the plot becoming public, White House officials warned the Indian government earlier this month that the Post was going to publish an investigation that would reveal new details of the murder plot and did so without informing the newspaper.
As recently as earlier this month, US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said his government had “made it clear to the government of India that we want to see them conduct a full investigation, and we continue to look forward to the results of that investigation”.
According to the Post, US officials said Modi and “his closest officials” have pledged accountability in the case and that they noted ‘Yadav’ “could still be charged and other penalties imposed” if India did not fulfil its commitments.
