 "Pannun case: India tells US it has detained accused mastermind 'CC1'")
India has informed the United States (US) that it has detained the individual identified as "CC1" in a US Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment, which implicated this person in orchestrating a plot to assassinate an American citizen on US soil, the Hindustan Times (HT) reported on Monday, citing a US official.
The DOJ indictment had identified CC1 as a serving Indian government official and accused the person of orchestrating an assassination attempt on Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a designated terrorist in India who holds American citizenship, in New York in June 2023. In an April report, the Washington Post identified CC1 as Vikram Yadav.
New Delhi has also reportedly conveyed to Washington that CC1 is no longer a government official and that a high-level inquiry committee, set up after the allegations emerged, is continuing to investigate CC1's other connections.
Meanwhile, members of this Indian inquiry committee were slated to travel to Washington DC on Tuesday, where they will reportedly meet US officials to present their findings and gain insights into the American investigation into the case. The unnamed US official confirmed this information to HT.
News of the committee's travel was first reported in a US State Department press release on Monday evening (IST), though the release was later removed and had not been republished at the time of reporting.
The US official also told the national daily that the US is "encouraged" by the actions India has taken. "We are encouraged that this person is no longer a government employee," the US official was quoted as saying, adding, "We have also been informed that he has been arrested on local charges. The Indian inquiry committee is travelling to Washington DC and will be meeting officials here."
The US official added that these developments reflect the "sustained engagement at the highest levels" between the Indian and US governments to address the allegations.
The news of the inquiry committee's visit and the arrest of CC1 came on the same day India's diplomatic relations with Canada hit a fresh low, following New Delhi's decision to withdraw its High Commissioner, Sanjay Kumar Verma, along with other diplomats and officials, from the north American nation and expel six Canadian diplomats, including Acting High Commissioner Stewart Ross Wheeler. India said the Canadian government, led by Justin Trudeau, had been targeting its representatives for "vote bank politics".
The tensions escalated after Canada conveyed to India its intention to question Indian diplomats and officials as part of its investigation into the killing of Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The alleged plot laid out in the DOJ indictment was foiled. Meanwhile, Nikhil Gupta, the intermediary allegedly used by CC1, was arrested in Prague last year and extradited to the US this year. His trial is expected to start soon. The hired assassin, reportedly recruited by Gupta, turned out to be an undercover American law enforcement officer.
When these allegations became public in late 2023, the US sought accountability from India. India asserted that this was not official government policy but formed an inquiry committee to investigate the information shared by the US. The committee's composition was not disclosed publicly but was shared with US officials.
Following the DOJ indictment, Pannun also filed a lawsuit in September in New York against the Indian government, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, and fromer Research and Analysis Wing chief Samant Goel. A New York court issued summons in the case. Doval did not accompany Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his US visit last month, with his absence widely attributed to the summons and ongoing controversy.