Indian Government Employee Plots Assassination of Sikh Leader on U.S. Soil, According to Feds
Vivrash Yadav, shown in an Indian military uniform, has been indicted in an alleged murder-for-hire plot targeting a Sikh separatist leader in the United States. Photo credit: FBI.
Vikash Yadav, 39, an Indian government employee from India who also uses the names “Vikas” and “Amanat,” was indicted on Oct. 17 on charges of money laundering and murder-for-hire, according to a DOJ press release. This is the second indictment in a case that initially only named Nikhil Gupta, 53, from India and listed Yadav as a coconspirator.
Yadav Worked in India’s Foreign Intelligence Service
Yadav allegedly worked as a Senior Field Officer in the Research and Analysis Wing of India’s Cabinet Secretariat, home to India’s foreign intelligence service, according to the DOJ release. His responsibilities were security management and intelligence. Yadav also served in India’s Reserve Central Force, where he was trained as an officer in battlecraft and weapons.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a U.S. citizen of Indian origins, is an outspoken political activist, organization leader, and attorney in New York, according to the press release. Pannun openly advocates for the large Sikh population in Punjab, in the northern area of India, to secede from India and establish its own sovereign state of Sikh people called Khalistan. The Indian government openly opposes Pannun and his separatist organization, banning them from India.
Recruiting a Law Enforcement Officer to Make the Hit
In May 2023, Yadav allegedly recruited Gupta, who lived in India and dealt in international narcotics and weapons trafficking, to orchestrate Pannun’s assassination on U.S. soil, according to the indictment. Gupta then contacted a person he thought could assist him in finding a hitman and was introduced to a person he thought was a contract killer. The contact was an informant, and the “hitman” was an undercover cop.
In a deal Gupta reportedly brokered, Yadav allegedly agreed to pay the hitman $100,000 for the job, and on June 9, 2023, Yadav arranged the first $15,000 payment, according to the indictment. Yadav allegedly gave Gupta Pannun’s personal address and contact information to pass to the hitman, and the hitman sent back surveillance photos of Pannun to Yadav through Gupta. Gupta reportedly instructed the hitman to act as soon as possible but avoid the time during the Indian Prime Minister’s visit on June 20, 2023.
On June 18, 2023, an associate of Pannun’s and a fellow separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, was assassinated in Canada, according to the indictment. Gupta allegedly confirmed to the hitman that Nijjar “was also the target” and added, “We have so many targets.”
Gupta was arrested on June 30, 2023, in the Czech Republic and extradited to the U.S. on June 14, 2023, according to the June 2024 press release.
Yadav is still at large and wanted by the U.S., according to the press release. Despite working for the Indian government at the time of the alleged crime, Yadav will not enjoy diplomatic immunity, which is an international law principle giving foreign government officials theoretical immunity from prosecution in local courts, according to the feds.
Yadav faces a combined maximum of 50 years in prison if convicted.
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