US has sought accountability from India over ‘murder for hire’ plot: Campbell

NEW DELHI: The US has consistently asked for updates on the probe by an Indian inquiry committee into an alleged plot to assassinate Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and sought accountability from the Indian government, US deputy secretary of state Kurt Campbell said on Wednesday.

The so-called “murder for hire” plot against Pannun, already declared a terrorist by New Delhi, has emerged as an irritant in an otherwise robust India-US relationship. The Indian government set up a high-level inquiry committee, whose composition and findings have not been made public, to investigate inputs provided by the US last year.

“We’ve made clear that we seek accountability from the Government of India and we have consistently asked for updates on the Indian committee of inquiry’s investigations...,” Campbell told an online media briefing.

The US has raised the issue directly with the Indian government “at the most senior levels”, he said in response to a question on whether he and US National Security Adviser (NSA) Jake Sullivan raised the alleged plot to target Pannun on American soil during their visit to New Delhi last week.

The US has had a “constructive dialogue” with India on this topic and the Indian side has “been responsive to our concerns”, Cambell said.

“I will say that we also believe that Indian colleagues are looking carefully at what potential institutional reforms might be necessary in the wake of some of these allegations and reports....those discussions continue between the US and India and I think anything further is likely to come through law enforcement channels,” he said without giving details.

An indictment filed by US prosecutors in a federal court in Manhattan had alleged that an Indian government employee, a field operative responsible for intelligence and identified only as “CC-1”, directed Indian national Nikhil Gupta to arrange the assassination of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) leader Pannun in New York. SFJ has been outlawed by India.

The indictment further alleged that Gupta contacted a person he believed to be a criminal associate for help in hiring a hitman. In reality, this person was a confidential source working with US law enforcement.

The source introduced Gupta to a purported hitman, who was an undercover US law enforcement officer.

The unnamed Indian official was subsequently identified by the media as Vikram Yadav, an officer of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) seconded to the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Yadav has been moved out of the external intelligence agency and several other mid-ranking officials have been reshuffled within the agency, according to people familiar with the matter.

Campbell ducked a question about Indian authorities portraying the “murder for hire” plot as the work of rogue elements.

Gupta, who was detained in the Czech Republic on the request of American law enforcement in June last year, was extradited to the US on June 14. He pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned in a federal court in Manhattan on June 17.