Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 30: India has expressed serious concern over the US government linking an alleged contract killer with the Indian government for hiring him to assassinate the Khalistani separatist and US and Canadian citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on the American soil.
The Ministry of External Affairs (EAM) said on Thursday that the purported links between the indicted individual and the Indian government official in the U.S. Department of Justice filings on the plot to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil was a “matter of concern” as it was not the “Indian government policy.”
EAM spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said a high-level probe committee would investigate all aspects of the allegations relating to the foiled plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh extremist and known to be an American and Canadian citizen. On Wednesday, U.S. federal prosecutors charged an Indian national Nikhil Gupta of being working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Pannun in the US.
Responding to questions on an alleged plot to murder US-based Pannun involving an Indian government official, Bagchi reiterated that New Delhi has launched a high-level probe into the charges. The ministry’s spokesperson Arindam Bagchi was responding to the media’s questions on allegations that an Indian government employee worked with Indian national Nikhil Gupta and others in a plot to assassinate Pannun, who leads Khalistani outfit Sikhs for Justice.
“As regards the case against an individual that has been filed in a US court, allegedly linking him to an Indian official, this is a matter of concern. We have said this is also contrary to government policy,” Mr Bagchi said. “The nexus between organised crime, trafficking, gunrunning and extremists at an international level is a serious issue for the law enforcement agencies and organisations to consider and it is for that reason that a high-level inquiry committee has been constituted and we will be guided by its results,” he added.
The MEA spokesperson declined to elaborate further, saying that no further information can be shared on such security matters. On questions on Canada reiterating its allegation that Indian government agents were involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia, Mr Bagchi said, “In so far as Canada is concerned, we have said that they have consistently given space to anti-India extremists and their violence. And that is actually (at) the heart of the issue. Our diplomatic representatives in Canada have borne the brunt of this. So we expect the government of Canada to live up to its obligations under the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations. We have also seen interference by Canadian diplomats in our internal affairs.”
Gupta faces “murder for hire” charges for his participation in the alleged plot to kill Pannun. Gupta was arrested in June in the Czech Republic under an extradition treaty between the US and the Czech Republic. According to a US Department of Justice statement, documents before a New York court allege that an Indian government employee worked with Gupta and others to hatch a plot to murder Pannun. The statement does not name the government employee.
U.S. prosecutors informed a Manhattan court on Wednesday that authorities in the Czech Republic arrested and detained Gupta, and he was currently awaiting extradition to the U.S. The MEA spokesperson said the U.S. side shared some “inputs” pertaining to nexus between organised criminals, gun runners and terrorists and that India takes such inputs seriously since they impinge on “our national security interests as well” and that relevant departments were examining the issue.
“During the course of discussions with the U.S. on bilateral security cooperation, the US side shared some inputs pertaining to nexus between organised criminals, gunrunners, terrorists and other extremists,” he said. “We take such inputs very seriously and a high level inquiry committee has been constituted to look into all the relevant aspects of the matter,” he said, in identical remarks that he made on Wednesday. Mr Bagchi said India would take necessary follow-up action based on the findings of the enquiry committee. “We cannot share any further information on such security matters,” he said.
Amid the developments in the US, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau renewed his charge against New Delhi. “The news coming out of the United States further underscores what we’ve been talking about from the very beginning: which is India needs to take this seriously. The Indian government needs to work with us to ensure that we’re getting to the bottom of this. This is not something that anyone can take lightly,” Trudeau said.
Ties between India and Canada have strained since Trudeau brought the serious allegations over the killing of Nijjar. New Delhi has trashed the allegations, calling them “absurd” and “motivated”. In subsequent remarks, India has said it is open to launch an investigation if Canada puts forward evidence to back its allegations.