‘Unwarranted and unsubstantiated’: India rejects US media reports alleging linking of RAW officer in Pannun killing plot
India slams US reports: India on Tuesday rejected a report in The Washington Post naming an Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) official's involvement in the alleged post to kill Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the US.
Describing it as an "unwarranted and unsubstantiated" imputation on a "serious matter" that is under investigation, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Monday said the US media report was "speculative and irresponsible".
In response to media queries on the report that appeared in Washington Post, a US national daily, Jaiswal said that a High-Level Committee set up by the Indian government is carrying out an investigation into the security concerns shared by the US government on networks of organized criminals, terrorists, and others.
"The report in question makes unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter. 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. Speculative and irresponsible comments on it are not helpful."
According to a report by The Washington Post, citing officials and a US indictment, a RAW official identified as Vikram Yadav allegedly instructed Indian businessman Nikhil Gupta, currently detained in the Czech Republic pending extradition to the US, to hire a hitman to assassinate GS Pannun outside his New York residence.
The operation, reportedly approved by then-RAW chief Samant Goel, targeted Pannun, who is designated as a terrorist by India and holds American and Canadian citizenship.
The US Justice Department claims that an Indian government employee (referred to as CC-1), unidentified in the indictment filed in a federal court in Manhattan, recruited Gupta to hire a hitman for the assassination, which was thwarted by US authorities. Gupta, detained by Czech authorities on June 30 under the bilateral extradition treaty between the United States and the Czech Republic, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison
"The nexus between organised crime, trafficking and gun running and extremists at an international level is a serious issue for law enforcement agencies and organisations to consider and it is precisely for that reason that a high-level committee has been constituted and we will obviously be guided by its results" the spokesperson said.
- With inputs from agencies
