US charges ex-Indian RAW official in foiled Sikh separatist murder plot

The United States has charged a former Indian Raw official for allegedly directing a foiled plot to murder a Sikh separatist and Indian critic in New York City, Gurpatwant Pannun, with the FBI warning against such a retaliation aimed at a US resident.

An indictment of Vikash Yadav was ordered to be unsealed on Thursday. The US Justice Department indictment mentioned Yadav as a former officer in India’s Research and Analysis Wing spy service.

Washington has alleged that Indian agents were involved in an attempted assassination plot against Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen.

“The FBI will not tolerate acts of violence or other efforts to retaliate against those residing in the U.S. for exercising their constitutionally protected rights,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.

The indictment alleged that beginning in May 2023, Yadav, described as an employee of the Indian government at the time, worked together with others in India and abroad to direct a plot against Pannun. The indictment described Pannun as a political activist, a critic of the Indian government and an advocate for a separate homeland for Sikhs.

Read more: Hardeep Singh Nijjar: Sikh separatist whose murder sparked India-Canada row

India has labeled Sikh separatists as “terrorists” and as threats to its security. Sikh separatists demand an independent homeland known as Khalistan to be carved out of India. An insurgency in India during the 1980s and 1990s killed tens of thousands.

Yadav, 39, was still in India and the United States was expected to seek his extradition, the Washington Post reported, citing American officials.

Ex-Raw official recruited Gupta “to orchestrate the assassination of the victim in the United States,” the indictment, filed in federal court in Manhattan, said.

In a statement on Thursday, Gurpatwant Pannun  welcomed the indictment of Yadav, but described him as a “mid-tier soldier” who the Sikh separatist alleged was assigned by Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and then RAW Chief Samant Goel as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal to dismantle Sikh separatism.