Pannun 'assassination' plot: US 'working with India' on probe amid RAW official involvement claims
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, as per a PTI report. The remarks by US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel came in response to claims made by The Washington Post, attributing unnamed sources, regarding a Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officer's involvement in the alleged plot on American soil last year, it added.
“We continue to expect accountability from the Government of India based on the results of the Indian inquiry committee’s work, and we are regularly working with them and enquiring for additional updates," Patel told reporters. When questioned about The Washington Post's report, which named the RAW officer as Vikram Yadav and implicated him in the purported plot to assassinate Pannun, Patel responded, “We’ll also continue to raise our concerns directly with the Indian Government at senior levels, but beyond that, I’m not going to parse into this further and will defer to the Department of Justice." India vehemently dismissed the allegations on April 30, asserting that the report contained baseless assertions on a grave issue.
They stressed that a thorough investigation into the matter was already in progress. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on April 30 slammed the report by the WaPo.
stating: “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." In November 2023, US federal prosecutors pressed charges against Indian national Nikhil Gupta, for his alleged involvement in a thwarted scheme to assassinate Pannun.
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