Indian government probe found ‘rogue operatives’ involved in plot to kill Pannun, says media report

According to a Bloomberg report, one of the officials identified is no longer with RAW but is still employed in the government

Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun | Photo Credit: AP

An Indian government investigation into the alleged plot to kill Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York City has found that “rogue operatives”, not authorised by the government, were involved, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

Federal prosecutors in the U.S. had, in November, accused an Indian citizen, Nikhil Gupta, of plotting to kill Pannun at the behest of an Indian government official.

In September, Canada had accused Indian agents of killing Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar earlier in 2023 on Canadian soil. The government had instituted a probe into the allegations in the Pannun case as the issue escalated between the two countries, with lawmakers and Biden administration officials expressing their concern and expectation that India cooperate in the matter. The issue was also raised in New Delhi by several senior U.S. officials.

At least one of the individuals involved in the alleged murder-for-hire plot to kill Pannun no longer works with the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), according to the Bloomberg report, which attributed the information to unnamed “senior officials” familiar with the issue.

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The person concerned is, however, still employed by the government and no criminal action has been initiated against him, the report says.

Donald Lu, the U.S. State Department’s top diplomat for South and Central Asia, told U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday that the alleged plot to kill Pannun was “a serious issue” between the two countries and that the Biden administration was taking the issue “incredibly seriously”.

Mr. Lu was speaking at a hearing on ‘Pakistan After the Elections’ organised by a sub-committee of the powerful U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee. He was asked by the body’s Ranking Member (i.e. a Democrat) Dean Phillips about the “alarming allegations” of Indian government involvement in the plot to kill a “Sikh American, here, on American soil”.

Mr. Lu’s comments did not appear to reflect the latest reporting around the investigation into the alleged plot as he made no reference to this, saying instead that the U.S. has asked India to work “quickly and transparently” as the investigation proceeds.

“We are at the moment working with India to encourage India to hold accountable those responsible for this terrible crime,” Mr. Lu said.

Indian authorities have informed the U.S. government about the outcome of the probe, according to the Bloomberg report.