In a development, A Delhi court has issued a non-bailable warrant against Vikash Yadav, a former R&AW officer who was named by the US as a conspirator in an alleged plot to kill Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The court also sent a notice to his surety, noting that Yadav failed to appear in connection with a case of alleged kidnapping and extortion despite being repeatedly summoned.
In an order issued on Monday, Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Partap Singh Laler of Patiala House Courts noted that Vikas Yadav had been absent since morning. The judge directed the issuance of non-bailable warrants against Yadav and also ordered a notice to his surety under Section 491 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, which deals with the procedure when a bond has been forfeited. The matter has been listed for October 17.
Who Is Vikash Yadav?
U.S. prosecutors accused ex-R&AW Vikash Yadav of directing a foiled plot to kill pro-Khalistan separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. This case has recently created tension in India-US relations and is similar to a killing that happened in Canada in 2023. US prosecutors in New York announced that, “filing of murder-for-hire and money laundering charges against Indian government employee Vikash Yadav, a/k/a “Vikas,” a/k/a “Amanat,” in connection with his role in directing a foiled plot to assassinate a U.S. citizen in New York City.
Yadav was born in Haryana in 1984. According to an FBI notice, He used “Amanat” as an alias when communicating with his co-conspirator, Nikhil Gupta, to facilitate the murder plot. He was an “Assistant Commandant,” at the CRPF with command of a 135-man company. However, the MEA has said that “the individual named in the U.S. indictment in Pannun case” is no longer an employee of the Indian government in those days itself.
“The U.S. State Department informed us that the individual mentioned in the indictment is no longer employed by India. I confirm that he is no longer an employee of the Government of India,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
