Vikash Yadav was released on bail in April 2024, and earlier this week, prosecutors in the United States identified him as the Indian agent behind plot to assassinate Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, as his details and pictures were shared on FBI’s website.
Vikash Yadav, the former Indian intelligence officer wanted by the FBI for the now-foiled assassination of Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, was arrested by the Delhi Police in December 2023 for attempted murder and kidnapping. According to officials, a Delhi-based businessman had filed a complaint, linking Yadav to jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, following which the ex-CRPF officer and another accused were arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police.
Notably, the arrest came weeks after the US Department of Justice (DoJ) named Vikash Yadav as a co-conspirator (CC-1) in the alleged plot to assassinate Pannun on American soil. The case also involves another Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, a businessman who was arrested in Czechoslovakia and later extradited to the United States.
Arrested for kidnapping, attempted murder
In his December 2023 complaint, the Delhi businessman, who owns an IT firm, said an acquaintance had introduced him to Vikash Yadav, who claimed to be a senior government officer. Yadav and the businessman became friends and exchanged numbers and later Yadav told him that he was an undercover agent, but did not give any information about the nature of his work or details of his office, the complainant said.
On December 11, 2023, Vikash Yadav told the businessman to meet him near Lodhi Road to discuss an “important matter”, but upon his arrival, Yadav and another person abducted him, and took him to an apartment in Defence Colony area, where the former CRPF officer told him that he was hired by gangster Lawrence Bishnoi to kill him, the businessman claimed.
The business further claimed that Vikash and his accomplice assaulted him, snatched his gold chain and rings, and later took him to a cafe where they snatched all his cash before threatening him with dire consequences if he reported the crime and dumping him on a roadside in an injured state.
Based on the businessman’s complaint, Delhi Police arrested Yadav and another accused on December and charged them with kidnapping, criminal conspiracy, and attempted murder.
During questioning, Vikash Yadav told the police that his father was a Border Security Force (BSF) officer who died in 2007 and confessed to targeting the businessman. His co-accused also confessed to the crime and said he had financial losses in his business and needed the money to get back on his feet.
FBI’s most wanted
Vikash Yadav was released on bail in April 2024, and earlier this week, prosecutors in the United States identified him as the Indian agent behind the Pannun assassination plot, as his details and pictures were shared on FBI’s website.
“(Vikash) Yadav is a citizen and resident of India. During times relevant to this superseding indictment, Yadav was employed by the Cabinet Secretariat of the Government of India, which houses India’s foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). RAW is an arm of the Cabinet Secretariat. Yadav has described his position as a ‘senior field officer’ with responsibilities in ‘security management’ and ‘intelligence’…he has listed his employer’s address as the CGO Complex in New Delhi, where RAW is headquartered,” the US indictment stated.
Responding to the US indictment, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a statement, said the person mentioned is no longer an employee of the Indian government.