“Regularly working” in investigation into suspected Sikh separatist leader’s murder with India: US

According to a US State Department source, the US and India are “regularly working” together to investigate the claims about the assassination plan of Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the US State Department Vedant Patel made the comments after The Washington Post’s publication of an unidentified source that implicated a Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officer in the conspiracy to assassinate Pannun on US territory last year.

India vehemently denied the allegations on Tuesday, stating that a probe was underway and that the article included “unwarranted and unsubstantiated” imputations on a sensitive subject.

“We continue to expect accountability from the Government of India based on the results of the Indian inquiry committee’s work,” Patel said during his daily press conference on Tuesday. “We are regularly working with them and enquiring for additional updates.”

“We’ll also keep bringing up our concerns with the Indian Government directly at higher levels, but beyond that, I won’t go into detail about it and will give the Department of Justice my full respect,” Patel responded when questioned about The Washington Post article that named the RAW officer as Vikram Yadav and claimed he was complicit in the assassination scheme against Pannun.

The US daily’s article was harshly criticized by External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Tuesday.

“The report in question makes unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter,” he said in New Delhi.

According to Jaiswal, the matter is currently being investigated by a high-level probe team that New Delhi established to examine US involvement on the purported scheme.

“There is an ongoing investigation of the high-level committee set up by the Government of India to look into the security concerns shared by the US government on networks of organised criminals, terrorists and others,” he said.

“Speculative and irresponsible comments on it are not helpful,” Jaiswal said.

US federal prosecutors accused Indian national Nikhil Gupta of collaborating with an Indian government official in the thwarted attempt to murder Pannun in November of last year.

Pannun, who has both Canadian and US citizenship, is sought in India on terror-related allegations. The Union Home Ministry has classified him as a terrorist in accordance with the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which is an anti-terror statute.

The botched attempt to assassinate Pannun was the subject of claims that surfaced a few weeks after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in September of last year that there was “potential” evidence of Indian operatives being involved in the June 18 shooting of Khalistani rebel Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia.

India has vehemently denied the accusations.

The situation had an impact on national security, thus on December 7, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in Parliament that India has established an investigation committee to examine the US’s role in the Pannun case.