An investigative report has emerged, which reportedly revealed that a RAW official by the name of Vikram Yadav was involved in a plot to murder Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the United States. The said operation reportedly was given green lights by the then-chief of the Indian spy agency, Samant Goel, according to media reports.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is a prominent leader in the Khalistan movement, acting as the legal adviser and spokesperson for SFJ, an organization which campaigns for a separate Sikh state. Indian governments have branded Pannun a terrorist.
In its investigation report, The Washington Post is said to have written, "That India would pursue lethal operations in North America has stunned Western security officials." The revelation of Vikram Yadav's role in the assassination plot, thus far not public, forms the most compelling piece of evidence pointing the assassination plot originated from within the Indian intelligence machinery.
The report further implies implications involving higher-ranking RAW officials, suggesting that the investigation is likely to be vastly bigger than estimated, and perhaps point to an inquiry into the interiors of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet.
The report points out a trend that is taking over the world: The Washington Post is owned by Jeff Bezos and is investigating a growing wave of cross-border repression campaigns. It reports on the underlying forces that are driving countries such as India to take tactics that are more like those of an authoritarian regime.
Taking cues from hundreds of interviews with foreign diplomats and politicians in capitals across the world, the report pieced together the purported involvement of RAW in the targeting of Sikh activists abroad. It reports that the operation that had targeted Pannun received the green light of then-RAW chief Samant Goel, according to senior former Indian security officials.
The report further said that it was probable that Modi's national security adviser, Ajit Doval, knew of RAW plans, though it said there was no concrete evidence to corroborate that.
The foiled assassination attempt is described as part of a wider aggressive campaign by RAW against the Indian diaspora, spanning continents.
At the same time, the report links Yadav to another operation involving the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada's British Columbia province, indicating a pattern of violence against Sikh and Kashmiri separatists labeled as terrorists by the Indian government.
The senior Indian government officials have turned down comments regarding the Washington Post report, but the Ministry of External Affairs has acknowledged the formation of a high-level committee to investigate allegations shared by the American side.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said the focus on the probe into the alleged assassination plot against Khalistani extremist Pannun includes India's national security interests.
On the charges, the Biden administration has avoided any against Yadav. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson has said the independence of law enforcement in making charging decisions. The only public charges so far are against an alleged middleman, Nikhil Gupta, who has been arrested in Prague and awaits a Czech court ruling on a US extradition request.
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