Gurpawant Singh Pannun.
New Delhi: The United States has announced that a high-ranking Indian investigative team will visit the country looking into claims of a thwarted plan to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Khalistani separatist leader, last year. According to reports, the Indian team, comprising the deputy national security advisor and another top Indian official is already in the country.
This development comes at a time of heightened tensions between India and Canada over Ottawa’s claims that New Delhi was behind the gunning down of a Canadian Sikh pro-Khalistan activist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, on Canadian soil in June 2023.
Pannun is the head of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a pro-Khalistan organization, which India has banned. He is considered a terrorist by India and holds citizenship in both the United States and Canada.
As India Sentinels had reported earlier, US prosecutors accused an individual of Indian origin named Nikhil Gupta of collaborating with someone employed by the Indian government, who they named as “CC-1” in court papers. They claim Gupta had arranged to pay a hitman $100,000 to eliminate Pannun in New York City.
According to a US state department statement, India has informed American authorities that it has detained CC-1 – the alleged mastermind behind the failed assassination plot targeting Pannun. The US had accused CC-1, believed to be an Indian intelligence operative, of directing the plot from India. CC-1 allegedly recruited Gupta, who attempted to hire a hitman to assassinate Pannun on American soil.
The US surveillance of CC-1 and Gupta, who was arrested in the Czech Republic in June, exposed their alleged plot. India has distanced itself from CC-1, stating that the individual is no longer a government employee.
Soon after the US justice department filed a case against Pannun’s attempted assassination, India said it had launched a probe into the allegations, as reported earlier. Indian officials insisted the plot was a rogue operation, contrary to government policy.
Following Gupta’s indictment, Indian-American lawmakers expressed their “deep concern” and said the safety and well-being of their constituents was their “most important priority”.
The identity of CC-1 has been speculated to be an intelligence operative from India’s foreign spy agency Research & Analysis Wing (RAW), but Indian authorities have not officially confirmed a specific name. Some reports suggest that this individual was previously linked to the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and had connections with international criminal networks.
The case has stirred controversy, especially given the larger context of India’s strained relations with pro-Khalistan activists abroad, especially in Canada.
