Vikash Yadav, a former official of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), has been arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell. He is wanted by the U.S. authorities in connection with a plot to assassinate pro-Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
According to reports, the FBI issued a wanted poster for Yadav, labeling him as “a former Indian government employee” implicated in directing a foiled assassination attempt against Pannun on U.S. soil.
The Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that Yadav, who was referenced in U.S. Justice Department documents related to the assassination plot, is no longer an employee of the Indian government.
The Indian Express reported that Yadav was arrested less than three weeks after being named “CC-1” (co-conspirator) in the U.S. indictment. He had been previously released on bail in April of this year.
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Yadav with “murder-for-hire” and money laundering in the Pannun case. At 39, Yadav was employed by the cabinet secretariat, which oversees India’s intelligence operations.
The Delhi Police’s Special Cell arrested Yadav following an FIR filed by a resident of Rohini, who accused him of extortion and kidnapping, as well as having connections to gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. The complainant, who ran an IT company, had reportedly befriended Yadav, believing him to be a senior government official.
In his statement, Yadav disclosed that his father had served in the Border Security Force and had passed away in 2007. After getting married in 2015, he met the complainant at a social gathering, where it is alleged that Yadav devised a plan to kidnap him for financial gain. According to police sources, Yadav’s associate, a car dealer facing business losses, agreed to assist in the kidnapping.
The complainant approached the police on December 17 after being kidnapped by Yadav and his accomplice.
