The name of an Indian agent has been revealed 11 months after a court cited evidence of New Delhi’s involvement
US federal prosecutors have named a former Indian intelligence operative believed to be involved in an assassination attempt on a New York-based lawyer and Sikh separatist leader, designated a “terrorist” by New Delhi.
The plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun was foiled by FBI agents in June last year, according to US court documents. US prosecutors have charged the suspect – Vikram Kumar Yadav – with “murder-for-hire and money laundering.”
Initially, the indictment did not name the agent, instead referring to him as ‘CC-1.’ The Indian national has been accused of colluding with Nikhil Gupta, a New Delhi businessman who was arrested in the Czech Republic and later extradited to the US.
The FBI said a “federal arrest warrant was issued for Yadav in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York.”
According to the FBI, Yadav provided information including the victim’s residential addresses, phone numbers, and other identifying information, to his co-conspirator.
The Indian Express reported on Saturday that the Special Cell of the Delhi Police had arrested Yadav in an extortion case last year, weeks after he was mentioned in the US indictment. The newspaper, however, said he was later released on bail.
Yadav’s name was first disclosed by The Washington Post, which claimed his identity and affiliation “provide the most explicit evidence” that the assassination plot was “directed from within the Indian spy service.”
At the time, New Delhi condemned the report as “speculative and irresponsible.” On Monday, a spokesperson for the External Affairs Ministry said Yadav was “no longer an employee of the government of India.”
Yadav’s identity was revealed publicly days after a special commission set up by New Delhi visited the US to probe the allegations. The inquiry panel’s trip coincided with a diplomatic escalation between India and Canada. The two countries announced diplomatic expulsions on Monday, after Ottawa linked six Indian officials to the assassination of Khalistan movement leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia last year.
New Delhi has described Canada’s allegations as “preposterous imputations,” suggesting they are part of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “political agenda” centered on “vote bank politics.” Trudeau has accused the Indian government of making a “fundamental error” by supporting “violence” on Canadian soil.
According to reports, the US and Canada have shared intelligence related to both cases, as they are part of the Five Eyes alliance, which also includes the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. The other countries that are a part of the grouping have also expressed concern over the two cases.
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