Former Indian government employee Vikas Yadav, who is on the wanted list of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was arrested by Delhi Police ten months ago on charges of attempt to murder and kidnapping.
The former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officer has been charged by US prosecutors for his alleged role in directing a failed plot to kill Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada. The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday confirmed that the individual named in the US Justice Department’s indictment is “no longer an employee of the Government of India”.
Vikas was arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police in December last year following a complaint by a businessman from Rohini in northwest Delhi and the charge sheet was filed in March this year. A month later, in April, Mr. Yadav got bail.
The businessman – who is said to have several contacts in West Asia – told police that his acquaintance had introduced him to Vikas Yadav in November 2023 and told him that he was a senior government official. They soon shared mobile numbers to keep in touch.
According to the complaint, Yadav would often ask her about her work and friends. The former government employee had also told him that he worked as an undercover agent. But, he never shared any information about his work and office, the businessman told the police.
According to the complaint, on December 11, Yadav called her and said he wanted to discuss some issue and asked her to come to Lodhi Road. When Yadav reached the place, another person was with him. The businessman claimed that they forcibly abducted him and took him to a flat in Defense Colony, where Yadav told him that gangster Lawrence Bishnoi had given him a contract to kill him.
He alleged that Yadav’s associate then attacked him on the head and snatched his gold chain and rings, after which they went to his cafe and took away whatever cash was there. According to the complainant, they left her on the roadside and threatened her with dire consequences if she complained to anyone.
The businessman soon went to the police and a First Information Report or FIR was registered in the case under sections of attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy and kidnapping. Yadav and his associate were arrested on December 18.
During interrogation, the associate told the police that due to losses in the used car business, he joined the conspiracy with Vikas Yadav. He said that Yadav told him that his father was in the Border Security Force.
Vikas Yadav told that the day he met the businessman, he planned the entire crime. Delhi Police registered a case in March and Vikas got bail in April. Although Vikas got interim bail on March 22, he got regular bail in April.
America’s allegations against Vikas Yadav
Vikas Yadav faces three charges: conspiracy to hire a hitman, actual “murder-for-hire” conspiracy, and money laundering. Charges against him and his alleged co-conspirator Nikhil Gupta were dismissed in court for the federal Southern District of New York on Thursday.
According to the indictment, Yadav was the alleged mastermind who recruited Gupta to carry out the conspiracy in exchange for his help in getting the criminal cases against him dismissed. Nikhil Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic and extradited to the US in June.
Many details in the document repeat the same statements made in earlier documents filed against Gupta, but this time, Yadav has been identified by name.
It says, “Yadav recruited Gupta to plot the murder of the victim in the United States and, under Yadav’s instructions, Gupta contacted a government “confidential source” whom he described as “a criminal associate.” “Believed.
According to the document, the alleged conspiracy began around May 6 last year when Yadav sent Gupta a message on an encrypted app saying, “This is Vikas…save my name as Aman”.
In June 2023, he hired a “hitman” and allegedly agreed to a payment of $100,000 to kill the “victim,” Pannun was not named in the court document. Yadav and Gupta arranged for a $15,000 advance through “Yadav’s associate”.
However, the “hitman” they hired was an undercover US law enforcement officer, leading to the unraveling of the plot, according to the 18-page court document, which also included a photo of Yadav dressed in military fatigues.
The charges were filed a day after an Indian inquiry committee set up to investigate the allegations visited Washington to discuss the matter with US officials.
In November last year, US federal prosecutors had accused Nikhil Gupta of working with an Indian government employee in a foiled plot to kill Pannun in New York.
