Who is Vikash Yadav? Ex-Indian intelligence officer charged in failed Pannun assassination plot

The United States, on Thursday (Oct 17) accused Vikash Yadav, a former Indian intelligence officer, of planning an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who lives in New York City. The US Justice Department has charged Yadav with murder-for-hire and money laundering.

“Today’s charges demonstrate that the Justice Department will not tolerate attempts to target and endanger Americans and to undermine the rights to which every US citizen is entitled,” said US Attorney General Merrick Garland.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Yadav worked with Nikhil Gupta, a co-conspirator who has already been arrested and extradited from the Czech Republic to the US for trial. However, Yadav remains at large, and a federal warrant for his arrest was issued on October 10.

The plot is said to have started in May 2023, when Yadav, who was allegedly employed by the Indian government at the time, worked with people both in India and abroad to carry out the assassination. US officials are expected to seek his extradition, according to news agency Reuters.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed that the “individual” mentioned in the US indictment is no longer linked to the Indian government. “The US State Department informed us that the individual named in the indictment no longer works for India. I can confirm he is no longer employed by the Government of India,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.

Born in 1984 in the Indian state of Haryana, Yadav has a background in security and intelligence. The FBI’s wanted poster said that Yadav used the alias “Amanat” to communicate with Gupta as part of the plan to assassinate Pannun. Yadav was identified as ‘CC-1’ (co-conspirator 1) in the first indictment.

The document also described Yadav as a ‘senior field officer’ responsible for ‘security management’ and ‘intelligence.’ He had previously served in India’s Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) as an assistant commandant and had been trained in ‘battle craft’ and ‘weapons.’

Images in the indictment show Yadav in Army combat gear.

(With inputs from agencies)