Less than three weeks after an Indian man was named as a co-conspirator by the United States in an alleged plot to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the man was arrested in Delhi in a separate extortion case, The Indian Express reported on Saturday.
The man, Vikash Yadav, was on Friday charged with murder-for-hire and money laundering by the United States Department of Justice in connection with the alleged plot to assassinate Pannun. The plot was foiled before the Sikh separatist leader could be killed.
The United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation on Friday placed Yadav on its “wanted” list and sought information about him.
Yadav was described in the US indictment as a senior field officer in the Research and Analysis Wing, India’s foreign intelligence service. However, India’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that he was “not part of the Government of India setup”.
An indictment that became public in November had referred to Yadav as an unidentified co-conspirator “CC-1” and left out any mention of the Research and Analysis Wing. On December 18, less than three weeks after the US indictment became public, he was arrested by the Delhi Police’s Special Cell in an extortion case, according to The Indian Express.
The case was filed after a resident of Delhi’s Rohini area accused him of extortion and abduction. According to the first information report, on December 11, Yadav called the complainant and said he wanted to discuss something with him.
The complainant said he was forcibly taken to a flat near the city’s Defence Colony, where Yadav told him that there was a contract to eliminate him. Yadav was said to have told the complainant that gangster Lawrence Bishnoi had given the contract at the behest of a Dubai-based individual, The Indian Express reported.
The complainant said he was hit on the head by Yadav’s accomplice and forced to hand over his gold chain and some rings.
Yadav and his accomplice were booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to attempted murder, criminal conspiracy, abduction and criminal intimidation, and under sections of the Arms Act. Yadav was arrested on December 18 and was released on bail in April, the newspaper reported, citing official records.
On Thursday, the United States Department of Justice alleged that Yadav hired an Indian citizen named Nikhil Gupta to murder Pannun.
The US Department of Justice alleged that in May 2023, Yadav agreed to pay a purported hitman $1,00,000, or Rs 84 lakh, to kill the Sikhs for Justice founder. The purported hitman, however, was in fact an undercover officer of the United States’ Drug Enforcement Administration.
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