Washington Post Report Names Officials Involved In India’s Plot To Kill In US, Canada

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC (with agency input) – The US media, with a latest exclusive by Washington Post, has disclosed the identity of an Indian official allegedly involved in ordering a plot to kill Khalistani activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, wanted on terror charges in India. According to reports, U.S. authorities believe that the previous chief of the Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) sanctioned the plot, with backing from senior intelligence officials associated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inner circle.

While the Ministry of External Affairs declined to comment on the Washington Post report, spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal labeled it as “speculative and unnecessary,” especially given the ongoing investigation. Jaiswal criticized the report for making unwarranted and unsubstantiated allegations on a serious matter.

The report revealed, for the first time, the name of the RAW officer involved, whose identity had been previously withheld in case papers released by the U.S. Justice Department in November 2023. Additionally, the Post stated, based on interviews with numerous senior officials across several countries, that other RAW officers have faced repercussions such as arrest, expulsion, and reprimand in recent months, indicating increased international coordination against what it termed as an “escalating campaign of aggression” targeting Indian diaspora members by India’s intelligence operatives.

The newspaper says that while the Joe Biden administration has tried to work with India behind closed doors in the interest of global policy making, Canada has been more vocal about it. India, it says, faced with growing evidence it could not back off from, promised to investigate the charges.

According to reports U.S. intelligence officials have assessed that the operation targeting Pannun was approved by the then RAW chief, Samant Goel. The report also suggested that U.S. spy agencies tentatively assessed that Modi’s National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval, may have been aware of RAW’s plans to target Sikh activists.

The story further detailed that RAW official Vikram Yadav directed businessman Nikhil Gupta, currently in custody in the Czech Republic awaiting extradition to the U.S., to hire a hitman to target Pannun outside his New York residence. Yadav, a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) official on deputation to RAW, has reportedly been repatriated to the paramilitary forces.

The Washington Post report also delved into the differences between the U.S. White House administration and the Justice Department overseeing the FBI-DEA investigation into the case. It noted that U.S. intelligence was surprised by India’s involvement in the operation, as democracies typically refrain from such actions against critics in other democratic nations.