The case involving former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) field agent Vikash Yadav has deepened after the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed charges accusing him of masterminding a plot to assassinate Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US citizen. Originally from Haryana, Yadav is also on the FBI’s wanted list, with a poster seeking information about his whereabouts. One of the images shows Yadav in an Army combat uniform without rank epaulets.

The FBI’s wanted poster lists Yadav, born in 1984, using the alias ‘Amanat’ while coordinating with his co-conspirator, fellow Indian national Nikhil Gupta. The US DOJ’s indictment, unsealed in the Southern District of New York, accuses Yadav of conspiring to kill Pannun, a prominent figure in the Sikh separatist movement. Gupta, 53, was earlier charged and extradited to the US in connection with the same plot. Yadav, however, remains at large.

The US Department of Justice stated that Yadav was employed by the Indian government’s Cabinet Secretariat, which oversees R&AW, India’s foreign intelligence service. Yadav described his role as a ‘senior field officer’, with responsibilities in ‘security management’ and ‘intelligence’, and he has a background in ‘battle craft’ and ‘weapons training’ from his previous service in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

US Attorney General Merrick Garland emphasised that the DOJ will hold accountable any individual, regardless of position, who seeks to harm US citizens. “We foiled an attempt by Vikash Yadav and his co-conspirator to assassinate an American citizen on US soil. Today’s charges send a clear message that such actions will not be tolerated,” Garland said.

FBI Director Christopher Wray also condemned the plot, stating, “The defendant, an Indian government employee, conspired to assassinate a US citizen for exercising their First Amendment rights. The FBI will not tolerate acts of violence that seek to undermine the constitutional rights of those residing in the US.”

The indictment against Yadav and Gupta references the June 2023 killing of Canadian Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was murdered outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia. Nijjar, an associate of Pannun, was also a leader of the Sikh separatist movement and a critic of the Indian government. The indictment reveals that just days after Nijjar’s killing, Yadav and Gupta expedited plans to target Pannun. “On or about June 18, 2023, approximately two days before the Indian Prime Minister’s state visit to the United States, masked gunmen murdered Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia, Canada. Nijjar was an associate of the victim and, like the victim, was a leader of the Sikh separatist movement and an outspoken critic of the Indian government,” the indictment says.

“On or about June 19, 2023, the day after the Nijjar murder, Gupta told the UC (undercover) that Nijjar ‘was also the target’ and ‘we have so many targets’. Gupta added that in light of Nijjar’s murder, there was ‘now no need to wait’ on killing the victim. On or about June 20, 2023, Yadav sent Gupta a news article about the victim and messaged Gupta, ‘[i]t’s [a] priority now’.”

In response to the allegations, Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed that Yadav was no longer employed by the Indian government. “The US State Department informed us that the individual in the Justice Department indictment is no longer employed by India. I confirm that he is no longer an employee of the Government of India,” Jaiswal stated during a press conference.