NEW YORK (WS News) A United States district court has issued summons to Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Indian government, its National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and former RAW chief Samant Goel, along with two others who allegedly planned assassination of Khalistan movement leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Pannun, a US-Canadian dual citizen of Indian origin, filed the lawsuit through an attorney, said a post on X by pro-Khalistan outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ).
According to the US media reports, Pannun has been seeking “damages for an alleged plot to assassinate him in the US last year.”
The summons also included the names of Vikram Yadav, a senior RAW officer; an Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, who is in a New York jail on charges of “conspiracy and murder for hire;” and, other “possible defendants whose identity is currently unknown”.
Dated Sept. 18, the summons from the court of the southern district of New York, sought a response within 21 days.
According to a report from New York, the 28-page complaint also referred to the death of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, and alleged that “these efforts” were overseen by Vikram Yadav, and approved by Doval and Goel.
These charges were denied earlier by India.
The Hindu extremist Modi government has been involved in killing the dissidents in other countries, ignoring all diplomatic norms. The White House has already expressed concern about the reported role of the Indian intelligence service in assassination plots in Canada and the United States.
THE NIKHIL GUPTA SAGA
In November last year, the US Justice Department had unsealed an indictment against Nikhil Gupta for his alleged involvement in a foiled plot to assassinate a US-based Sikh movement leader in New York.
The Justice Department said that an Indian government employee (named CC-1), who was not identified in the indictment filed in a federal court in Manhattan, recruited Gupta to hire a hitman to carry out the assassination that was foiled by US authorities.
The Justice Department also stated that the charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
At the time, India had formed a high-level inquiry committee to address the security concerns highlighted by the US government.
India has been in diplomatic row with the US and Canada for more than a year now. Pannu’s lawsuit has again landed India in trouble ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington for a Quad summit.
PACIFYING SIKH ACTIVISTS
Meanwhlie, senior US officials met with Sikh advocates on Sept. 19 to discuss threats facing Sikhs in the United States, including a foiled murder plot against a prominent activist last year, several attendees told Reuters.
The meeting with senior White House and US intelligence officials came two days before President Joe Biden is to meet India Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The meeting of US officials with Sikh advocates is seen as attempt by Washington to pacify the Sikh community ahead of Modi’s visit.
The United States has been pushing India to investigate the murder plot against Pannun, as it continues its own criminal investigation into India’s possible involvement.
The officials briefed a group of Sikh advocates about the government’s ongoing conversations with India in a closed-door meeting organised by the National Security Council, according to the attendees.
The White House and the Indian embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
