Cop ‘indicted’ by US in Pannun case removed by India

An Indian police official who was “indicted” by the US Department of Justice for an alleged failed plot to kill pro-Khalistan activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun had been removed from service and was no more part of the government, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.

“Yes, I can confirm. This particular gentleman is not part of the Government of India setup. He is not an employee (anymore),” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in response to a query.

Jaiswal referred to a statement by US State Department spokesperson Matthew Millar, which had pointed out that “the individual named in the US Department of Justice indictment was no longer an employee of the Government of India”. Though Jaiswal did not clarify who he was referring to, sources said the person was listed as ‘CC-1’ in the Department of Justice’s “indictment”. The sources said the police official was posted in North America and was last year reverted to his parent cadre, the Central Reserve Police Force.

Citing Department of Justice documents, the US media identified ‘CC-1’ as Vikram Yadav, who was posted in the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) in the US.

Jaiswal also said a two-member high-level inquiry committee had visited the US to look into the inputs that were shared with India. “We have taken these inputs very seriously and remain engaged with the US authorities,” he said. The inquiry committee is probing the links of any Indian entities in the targeting of Sikhs in the US.

Miller had said on Wednesday night that “the US government broadly updated members of the (Indian) inquiry committee about the investigation that Washington had been conducting”. “We have received an update from them (India) on the investigation.

It was a productive meeting. We are satisfied with the cooperation. It continues to be an ongoing process. We continue to work with them (India) on that, but we do appreciate the cooperation… we appreciate them for updating us on their investigation, as we update them on ours,” he said.

Separately, White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said, “We have expressed deep concerns about this to our Indian counterparts. They have expressed to us that they are taking it seriously. It is something India absolutely needs to take seriously.” He said the US and India had had interactions at various levels.