In the midst of a dispute between New Delhi and Ottawa over Canada’s suggestion of the role of Indian politicians in the case of the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the US announced that the high-level committee of India investigating the case related to the “failed plot” to kill another. Khalistani separatist, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, visited the country on Tuesday.
According to a statement from the US State Department, dated October 14, “The Investigative Committee will travel to Washington DC on October 15, as part of its ongoing investigation to discuss the case, including the information they have received, and to receive an update.” to US authorities regarding the ongoing US case.”
The statement, which was issued on Monday and retracted, is now back on the US State Department website.
In November last year, during the months of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suspects involvement of Indian officials in the Nijjar case, there were allegations from the US about a failed Indian plot to kill Pannun on American soil. Soon after, an unsealed case by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) named Indian-origin Nikhil Gupta for his involvement in the Pannun case. Gupta was extradited to the US in June.
Prosecutors alleged that Gupta was working with an Indian government employee and had agreed to pay an assassin $1,00,000 to kill Pannun in New York City. Pannun, a designated terrorist in India, is the leader of the banned Khalistani separatist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and holds dual citizenship in the US and Canada.
While New Delhi rejected Trudeau’s allegations as “absurd and provocative”, in the US cases, India said it was taking these ideas seriously and they were being “examined” by the relevant departments. Shortly afterwards, the Ministry of External Affairs announced that it had set up an executive committee of inquiry to investigate “all relevant aspects of the matter”.
“The Indian Commission of Inquiry set up to investigate the activities of certain organized criminals is investigating a person who was identified last year in Justice Department indictments as an Indian government employee who directed a foiled plot to kill an American citizen in New York City. ,” said.
The State Department also said that India has informed the US that it is continuing its efforts to investigate other communications of the former government employee and will decide on follow-up measures, if necessary. US President Joe Biden discussed this issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was in New Delhi at the G20 summit in September last year.
Citing sources in the US government and US intelligence agencies, a Washington Post report in December 2023 named a RAW official about the plot to impeach Pannun in the US. The officer is named in the US DoJ filings as ‘CC1’. The case suggested a connection between the alleged plot against Pannun and Nijjar’s murder.
Both the US and Canada are part of the Five Eyes Alliance, an intelligence-sharing group that includes the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Reports said the US, Canada and other allies shared details about Nijjar’s killing and the alleged plot to kill Pannun, raising concerns about “possible behavior” on Delhi’s part. Notably, Canada has not shared any details of the evidence it has that it will do so “in due course”.
In an interview with Canada’s CTV last year, US Ambassador to Canada David Cohen also said that “intelligence was shared between our Five Eyes partners” that helped “lead” Canada to the claims made by Prime Minister Trudeau.