US Justice Department announces charges against Vikash Yadav in foiled plot to assassinate Pannun

WASHINGTON, DC: The US Justice Department on Thursday (local time) announced the filing of murder-for-hire and money laundering charges against a former Indian government employee, Vikash Yadav, in connection with his alleged role in directing a foiled plot to assassinate Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is a US citizen.

In a statement, the US Justice Department said, “Yadav is charged in a second superseding indictment unsealed today in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. Yadav’s alleged co-conspirator, Nikhil Gupta, 53, was previously charged and extradited to the United States on the charges contained in the first superseding indictment. Yadav remains at large.”

Attorney General Merrick B Garland has expressed the US Justice Department’s commitment to hold accountable any person who seeks to harm American citizens.

“The Justice Department will be relentless in holding accountable any person — regardless of their position or proximity to power — who seeks to harm and silence American citizens,” Merrick B Garland said.

Garland further said that the US has foiled an attempt by Vikash Yadav and his co-conspirator Nikhil Gupta to assassinate an American citizen on US soil.

“As alleged, last year, we foiled an attempt by Vikash Yadav, an Indian government employee, and his co-conspirator, Nikhil Gupta, to assassinate an American citizen on US soil. Today’s charges demonstrate that the Justice Department will not tolerate attempts to target and endanger Americans and to undermine the rights to which every US citizen is entitled,” Garland said.

FBI Director Christopher Wray has claimed that the defendant, an Indian government employee, allegedly conspired with a criminal associate and attempted to assassinate an American citizen on US soil for exercising their First Amendment rights.

Wray further said, “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. We are committed to working with our partners to detect, disrupt, and hold accountable foreign nationals or others who seek to engage in such acts of transnational repression.”

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division stressed that the charges announced today are a “grave example of the increase in lethal plotting and other forms of violent transnational repression targeting diaspora communities in the United States.”

Issuing a warning to nations against planning such criminal activity, Olsen said, “To the governments around the world who may be considering such criminal activity and to the communities they would target, let there be no doubt that the Department of Justice is committed to disrupting and exposing these plots and to holding the wrongful actors accountable no matter who they are or where they reside.”

Administrator Anne Milgram of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has stated that the DEA foiled the assassination attempt in 2023 and “has continued to trace this case back to an employee of the Indian government whom we charge was an orchestrator of this intricate murder-for-hire scheme. DEA did not relent, and today’s indictment names Vikash Yadav as an alleged mastermind.”

She further said, “We charge that Yadav, an employee of the Indian government, used his position of authority and access to confidential information to direct the attempted assassination of an outspoken critic of the Indian government here on US soil.”

She noted that the case was led by the DEA New York Division’s Drug Enforcement Task Force, which is comprised of the DEA, the New York State Police, and the New York City Police Department.

According to US Attorney Damian Williams, this office last year charged Nikhil Gupta for conspiring to assassinate an American citizen of Indian origin on US soil.

“But, as alleged, Gupta did not work alone. Today, we announce charges against an Indian government employee, Vikash Yadav, who orchestrated the plot from India and directed Gupta to hire a hitman to murder the victim. The right to exercise free speech is foundational to our democracy, and predicated on the notion that we can do so without fear of violence or reprisal, including from beyond our borders,” Williams further said.

As alleged in the second superseding indictment and other public court documents, in 2023, Yadav, working together with others, including Gupta, in India, and elsewhere, directed a plot to assassinate “an attorney and political activist who is a US citizen of Indian origin residing in New York City (the victim) on American soil.

US Justice Department said, “During times relevant to the second superseding indictment, Yadav was employed by the Government of India’s Cabinet Secretariat, which houses Indian’s foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing. Yadav has described his position as a ‘senior field officer” with responsibilities in “security management” and “intelligence’.”

“Yadav also has referenced previously serving in India’s Central Reserve Police Force and receiving “officer[] training” in “battle craft” and “weapons.” Yadav is a citizen and resident of India, and he directed the plot to assassinate the Victim from India,” it added.

In or about May 2023, Yadav recruited Gupta to orchestrate the assassination of a US citizen. Gupta is an Indian national who resided in India and has described his involvement in international narcotics and weapons trafficking in his communications with Yadav and others.

After receiving instruction from Yadav, Gupta contacted an individual whom Gupta “believed to be a criminal associate, but who was in fact a confidential source (the CS) working with the DEA, for assistance in contracting a hitman to murder the victim in New York City.”

The US Justice Department said, “The CS introduced Gupta to a purported hitman, who was in fact a DEA undercover officer (the UC). Yadav subsequently agreed, in dealings brokered by Gupta, to pay the UC USD 100,000 to murder the victim. On or about June 9, 2023, Yadav and Gupta arranged for an associate to deliver USD 15,000 in cash to the UC as an advance payment for the murder. Yadav’s associate then delivered the USD 15,000 to the UC in Manhattan.”

In or about June 2023, in furtherance of the assassination plot, Yadav provided Gupta with personal information about the victim, including the victim’s home address in New York City, phone numbers related to the victim, and details regarding the victim’s day-to-day conduct, which Gupta then passed to the UC.

Yadav directed Gupta to provide regular updates on the progress of the assassination plot, which Gupta accomplished by forwarding to Yadav, among other things, surveillance photographs of the victim, according to the statement.

The statement reads, “Gupta directed the UC to carry out the murder as soon as possible, but Gupta also specifically instructed the UC not to commit the murder around the time of the Indian Prime Minister’s official state visit to the United States, which was scheduled to begin on or about June 20, 2023.”

On or about June 18, 2023, masked gunmen shot Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Gurdwara in Canada’s British Columbia.

The US Justice Department said, “On or about June 19, 2023, the day after the Nijjar murder, Gupta told the UC 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’.”

According to the statement, Yadav and Gupta of India have been charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; and conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The DEA New York Division and the FBI New York Field Office’s Counterintelligence Division are carrying out an investigation into the case, with valuable assistance provided by the DEA Special Operations Division, DEA Vienna Country Office, FBI Prague Country Office, Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, and Czech Republic’s National Drug Headquarters.

Assistant US Attorneys Camille L Fletcher, Ashley C. Nicolas, and Alexander Li for the Southern District of New York are prosecuting the case with assistance from Trial Attorney Christopher Cook of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and Trial Attorney AJ Dixon of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

The US Justice Department noted, “An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”

The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday confirmed that the individual named in the US Justice Department’s indictment case in a foiled assassination plot against Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, was no longer an employee of the government of India.

“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,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a press conference.

Earlier in June, Gupta was extradited from the Czech Republic to the US to stand trial, where he pleaded ‘not guilty.’

India in November last year formed a high-level inquiry committee to address the security concerns highlighted by the US government.

The MEA said that India takes such inputs seriously since they impinge on national security interests as well, and relevant departments were already examining the issue. (ANI)