[ad_1]
The plot to assassinate Gurupatwant Singh Pannun was sanctioned by senior intelligence figures, the report says. | Image Credit: AP
US officials believe the plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Khalistani activist wanted on terrorism charges in India, was ordered by the former head of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) and received official approval from senior intelligence officials. “(With Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Inner Circle), The The Washington Post A US-national newspaper reported.
Increasing publicity
Reported at The Washington Post The paper first identified the R&AW official, whose name has been withheld, in case papers made available by the Justice Department in New York in November 2023. In a separate press release, Post it “Based on interviews with more than three dozen current and former senior officials in the United States, India, Canada, Britain, Germany and Australia, other R&AW officials said they have faced “arrest, expulsion and reprimand” in recent months against members of the Indian diaspora by India’s intelligence operatives.” indicates that there is more international coordination about the so-called “escalating campaign of aggression”.
The Ministry of External Affairs declined to comment on the latest news The Washington Post Report on Monday. Last week, in response to a query on the allegations, an MEA spokesperson said “a high-level panel is reviewing the information shared with us by the American side, as (it) equally affects our national security. In recent weeks, the government has blocked the airing of documentaries by Canadian and Australian public broadcasters CBC and ABC, It focused on allegations against Indian agencies targeting Khalistani activists abroad.
“In closely held reports within the US government, US intelligence officials have determined that the operation targeting Pannun was approved by then RAW chief Samant Goel,” the report said. “US intelligence agencies have more tentatively assessed that Modi’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was probably aware of RAW’s plans to kill Sikh activists,” it added.
‘Not our policy’
According to the story, the R&AW official, identified as Vikram Yadav, directed Indian businessman Nikhil Gupta, now in custody in the Czech Republic pending his extradition to the US to stand trial in the case, to hire a hitman to kill GS Pannun outside his New York home. residence Other US media reported that Mr Yadav, believed to be a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officer on deputation to the R&AW, has since been returned to the paramilitary force.
While the MEA Ministry of External Affairs has maintained that such killings are not Indian policy and has denied Canadian allegations of a similar beating on Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, the government has agreed to an investigation into the US allegations.
The The Washington Post The story dwells at length on differences between the US White House administration and the Justice Department, which is overseeing the FBI-DEA investigation into the case.
Evidence referred to an undercover American agent hired by Mr. Gupta to kill Pannun on Yadav’s direct orders included surveillance of messages exchanged between them and a photograph showing three Indian intelligence officers. Green signal for plot during video call.
However, while the Justice Department has brought forward indictments against both Mr. Gupta and Mr. Yadav, Biden administration officials have currently prevailed on ensuring that only Mr. Gupta is indicted, ostensibly to avoid “severing” ties. India.
A series of meetings involving US Deputy NSA John Finer, US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and Deputy CIA Director David Cohen were hashed out, the report said. It said Mr. President Biden discussed the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a meeting in September 2023 and called for accountability in the case.
[ad_2]
https://amzn.to/43VrLiR