India denies 'unwarranted' report linking spy official to killing plot in US

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) - India on Tuesday denied a media report linking a spy official to a plot to kill a Sikh separatist, on US soil last year

The Washington Post reported on Monday an officer in India's foreign intelligence gathering service, known as the Research and Analysis Wing or RAW, was directly involved in a plan to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a dual American-Canadian citizen.

Pannun, the general counsel for Sikhs for Justice -- a US-based group that is part of a movement pushing for an independent Sikh state called Khalistan -- has been designated a "terrorist" by the Indian government.

“The report in question makes unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter,” Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said on Tuesday morning.

“There is an ongoing investigation of the high-level Committee set up by the Government of India to look into the security concerns shared by the US government on networks of organized criminals, terrorists and others,” he said, while noting that “speculative and irresponsible comments on it are not helpful.”

The Washington Post report, naming the officer who until now was identified as CC1 in a US Justice Department indictment, also said that “in reports that have been closely held within the American government, U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that the operation targeting Pannun was approved,” by the then spy agency chief.

On Monday, the White House said it viewed the reported role of the Indian intelligence service in the assassination plot as a serious matter.

"This is a serious matter, and we're taking that very, very seriously," White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. "We're going to continue to raise our concerns."

In November last year, India said it was probing US concerns over the foiled assassination plot. The probe announcement came when Washington notified New Delhi after it thwarted a conspiracy to assassinate the Sikh separatist leader on US soil.

The report of the foiled plot came two months after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had said there were “credible allegations” that the Indian government was behind the shooting of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18, 2023 in front of a Sikh temple in Canada’s westernmost province of British Columbia.

Earlier, New Delhi said any attempt to connect the Indian government to killing plots in northern America was "absurd and motivated."