Individual named in US indictment in Pannun case “no longer employee of Indian government,” confirms MEA

The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday confirmed that the individual named in the US Justice Department’s indictment case in foiled assassination plot against Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, was no longer an employee of the government of India.

“The US State Department informed us that the individual in the Justice Department 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 in a press conference today.

Notably, the US Justice Department has claimed that an Indian government employee (named CC-1), who was not identified in the indictment filed in a federal court in Manhattan, recruited an Indian national named Nikhil Gupta to hire a hitman to carry out the assassination of Pannun, which was foiled by US authorities, according to prosecutors.

According to the allegations levelled earlier, the accused Nikhil Gupta, is an associate of an employee of the Indian government and that together they and others helped plot the assassination of Pannun in New York City.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is an India-designated terrorist who holds American and Canadian citizenship.

Indian national Nikhil Gupta is accused of being involved in the alleged failed murder plot of India-designated pro-Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

Earlier in June, Gupta (52) was extradited from the Czech Republic to the US to stand trial, where he pleaded ‘not guilty.’

India in November last year formed a high-level inquiry committee to address the security concerns highlighted by the US government. The Ministry of External Affairs said that India takes such inputs seriously since they impinge on national security interests as well, and relevant departments were already examining the issue.

Meanwhile, the United States earlier said that the meeting with the Indian Inquiry Committee regarding the Pannun case was “productive” and Washington was “satisfied” with the cooperation.

US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller expressed satisfaction with India’s cooperation in the investigation.

Regarding the alleged involvement of an Indian government official in the assassination plan of Pannun, Miller informed that the person “is no longer an employee of the Indian government.”

“It was a productive meeting. They did inform us that the individual who was named in the Justice Department indictment is no longer an employee of the Indian government. We are satisfied with the cooperation. It continues to be an ongoing process. We continue to work with them on that, but we do appreciate the cooperation and we appreciate them updating us on their investigation as we update them on ours,” Milller said.