US indicts Indian citizen Vikas Yadav for conspiracy to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannu of Khalistan. Apart from conspiracy to murder, Vikas is also accused of money laundering. America's intelligence agency FBI says that Vikas was associated with India's intelligence agency RAW.
The FBI also said that the Government of India has removed Vikas from his post. Vikas was in America first. He came to India some time ago. He is a resident of Pranapura village in Rewari district of Haryana state. He was arrested on October 10. However, India has not yet commented on the FBI's claim.
An American court indicted two people in the conspiracy to kill Pannu. Including Nikhil Gupta and a person named CC1. Now the FBI has identified CC1 as Vikas Yadav. America had already arrested Nikhil Gupta from Czech Republic.
The American Intelligence Agency has posted this photo of Vikas Yadav on its website.
Vikas gave all the information about Pannu to Nikhil The FBI said in the chargesheet that Vikas implicated Nikhil Gupta in the conspiracy and gave instructions, in which he had complete information about Pannu. It included Pannu's address, mobile number and daily activities.
It was after this that Gupta approached a criminal, whom he believed to be a contract killer, to kill Pannu. However, he was in fact an undercover agent of America's Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). According to the FBI, Yadav had planned to pay 1 lakh dollars (about 83 lakh rupees) for this murder.
America rejects Trudeau's claim- development has nothing to do with killing of Niger… After India's name emerged in the conspiracy to kill Pannu, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau claimed that CC1 was also involved in Nijjar's murder. However, America has rejected it. The US State Department said the development had no connection with the Niger massacre in Canada.
The FBI's claim comes at a time when relations between Canada and India are strained. Canada accused Indian diplomats of involvement in Nijjar's killing. After this, India has recalled 6 diplomats including the High Commissioner. Apart from this, India also asked Canadian diplomats to leave India.
What is the Pannu murder conspiracy case? Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national, was arrested by the Czech Republic police on June 30, 2023 for conspiring to kill Pannu. After this, Nikhil was extradited to America on 14 June 2024. Nikhil was tried in America, where he acquitted himself.
According to American agencies, the conspiracy to kill Pannu was hatched during PM Modi's US visit in September last year. A former Indian officer (Vikas Yadav) asks Nikhil Gupta to plot Pannu's murder.
News agency Reuters published this sketch of Nikhil during his stay in the courtroom.
When, what happened in Pannu case, complete timeline as per charge sheet…
- May 2023: According to the US prosecutor, an Indian official (Vikas Yadav) hired Nikhil Gupta.
- 29 May: Nikhil Gupta starts searching for the person who can kill Pannu. However, the person hired to kill Pannu turns out to be an American undercover agent. For a few weeks, Nikhil Gupta discussed with this undercover agent the method and cost of Pannu's murder.
- June 9: Gupta sent 15 thousand dollars (Rs 12 lakh 49 thousand) cash through a person to the hitman hired to kill Pannu. This was an advance payment for the murder. The entire deal was done for 1 lakh dollars (84 lakh rupees).
- June 11: The Indian officer told Gupta that Pannu could not be killed yet. In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited America in June. Gupta had also said on the phone that if nothing could be done for 10 days, demonstrations would start.
- June 18: Terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar killed in Canada.
- June 19: Gupta sent the video of Nijjar's killing to the hitman hired to kill Pannu in America and said this is good news, no need to wait.
- June 24 to June 29: The Guptas go ahead with the plan to kill Pannu. Started monitoring Pannu.
- 30 June: Gupta was detained in the Czech Republic at the behest of the US.
Khalistan supporters protesting against India in Canada. Gurpatwant Singh Pannu is accused of organizing pro-Khalistan demonstrations in Canada and providing financial support to Khalistan supporters in India.
Who is Gurpatwant Singh Pannu?
- Gurpatwant Singh Pannu is originally from Khankot, Punjab. He currently lives in America and runs an organization called Sikhs for Justice. He holds citizenship of both the US and Canada.
- In 2019, the Government of India banned Pannu's outfit SFJ under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act i.e. UAPA on charges of carrying out terrorist activities. SFJ was supporting separatism and extremist ideology in Punjab under the guise of Sikh referendum.
- In 2020, Pannu was accused of promoting separatism and encouraging Punjabi Sikh youth to take up arms. Following this, on July 1, 2020, the central government declared Pannu a terrorist under the UAPA. According to media reports, this was the main target of the conspiracy. However, this is not mentioned in the American charge sheet.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
