Pannun murder attempt: ‘Rogue’ RAW officer dismissed, India tells US. US ‘satisfied’ with cooperation

Accused no longer Indian govt employee, satisfied with cooperation: US on Pannun assassination probe

India has informed the United States that it has dismissed ‘CC1’—a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officer on deputation to the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)— from service, following its investigation into the alleged plot to assassinate Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an American national, on US soil in June 2023. Washington Post earlier reported that the CC1 is Vikram Yadav, a middle officer in CRPF, working with RAW.

“So we…the meeting that occurred yesterday, we updated—“we” being the US government broadly—updated members of the Committee of Inquiry about the investigation that the United States has been conducting. We’ve received an update from them on the investigation that they have been conducting. It was a productive meeting, and I will leave it at that,” US State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller said in a media briefing.

Asked if India had informed what action has been taken against CC1, he said, “They did inform us that the individual, who was named in the Justice Department indictment, is no longer an employee of the Indian government.”

Responding to another question on whether the US was satisfied, he said, “We are satisfied with the cooperation. It continues to be an ongoing process. We continue to work with them on that, but we do appreciate the cooperation, and we appreciate them updating us on their investigation as we update them on ours.”

After Yadav’s name and alleged action was shared by the US authorities, CC1 was put under suspension by the R&AW and was sent back to his parent organization, CRPF, following what was termed as an internal probe into violations of internal code. He has been dismissed from the CRPF as well and is now a subject of an enquiry being conducted by a high-level committee formed by India to look into the allegations.

An Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, who was allegedly recruited by CC1 or Yadav, was arrested in Prague earlier this year and extradited to the US, where he is expected to face trial soon. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has said in its indictment that the conspiracy to assassinate Pannun was foiled when the hired assassin turned out to be an undercover Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent in America. The DOJ has opted not to bring charges against Yadav for now.

Recently a US Court issued summons to National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and former RAW Chief Samant Goel in the case. Doval had cancelled the US trip along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after the summons.

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