The United States has accused a former RAW officer of unsuccessfully plotting the assassination of Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu.
On this matter, US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said that this matter was discussed with India last week. Both governments shared information in this regard. We understand that the Indian Investigation Committee will investigate this.
He said the United States will not be satisfied until accountability is ensured after this investigation.
What is the deal with the conspiracy to assassinate Pannu?
In fact, in November last year, the Financial Times claimed in its report that a conspiracy to assassinate Pannu had been hatched on American soil, but was foiled. Pannu is an American citizen and has been declared a terrorist by India.
Following this, the US Department of Justice also filed a case in the New York District Court on this matter. In this, an Indian national named Nikhil Gupta and an unknown Indian government official were accused of planning Pannu’s murder. Nikhil Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic in June last year and extradited to the United States this year. Nikhil Gupta is currently in a US prison.
According to the indictment filed, Gupta was hired by an Indian government official to assassinate Pannu. Gupta hired a hitman (betel nut killer) for this murder, but he was actually an intelligence agent for the US government. Considering the intelligence agent to be the hitman, he was given a contract of one lakh dollars (Rs 83 lakh) to kill the ‘target’. They also gave him $15,000 in advance in Manhattan.
What has India done so far?
Last year, when the United States accused India of plotting to assassinate Pannu, a high-level committee was formed to investigate it. The committee’s inquiry report said that the people who were planning Pannu’s murder had nothing to do with the Indian government.
Who is this Pannu?
Gurpatwant Singh Pannu. Born in Punjab. I did my studies from here too. Currently abroad. Sometimes he lives in Canada and sometimes in the United States. He has citizenship of both countries. It threatens to carry out terrorist attacks in India from outside.
According to an Indian record, after partition in 1947, Pannu’s family came from Pakistan to Khankot village in Amritsar. Pannu was born on February 14, 1967. Pannu’s father worked in a company in Punjab. He also has a brother who lives abroad. His parents are dead.
Pannu studied law at Punjab University, Chandigarh. He currently practices law in the United States. Pannu had formed the organization “Sikh for Justice” in 2007. In July 2020, India had declared Pannu a terrorist. Pannu leads the Khalistan campaign with the help of the ISI.
The dossier shows that Pannu not only wants to create Khalistan, but also aspires to create Urdustan. Pannu wants to create many countries by dividing India into different parts. He wants to create division on religious grounds. Pannu wants to woo Muslims and create a Muslim country, which he wants to call the “Democratic Republic of Urdustan.” Apart from this, he is also provoking the people of Kashmir so that Kashmir can separate from India.
Pannu, the head of the Sikh for Justice organisation, is a wanted terrorist in India. There are 16 cases registered against him across the country. These cases have been registered against them in connection with the Khalistani movement in Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand.
