The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released a wanted poster of Vikash (Vikas) Yadav, “a former Indian government employee”, in connection with his alleged role in directing a foiled plot to assassinate pro-Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on the US soil.
On Thursday, the ministry of external affairs confirmed that the individual named in the US Justice Department's indictment case in the foiled assassination plot of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun was “no longer an employee of the government of India”.
Now, a report published by The Indian Express on Saturday claimed that the Delhi Police's Special Cell had arrested Vikash Yadav in an extortion case. The arrested was made less than three weeks after Vikash Yadav was mentioned by the US Department of Justice documents as “CC-1” (co-conspirator) last November, The Indian Express report added.
The newspaper, citing records, also reported that Vikash Yadav was released on bail in April this year.
Jaano Junction could not independently verify the authenticity of the development.
On Friday, Vikash Yadav was named by the DoJ and charged with “murder-for-hire” and money laundering in the alleged Gurpatwant Singh Pannun murder plot.
Vikash Yadav, 39, was employed by the cabinet secretariat, which houses India's foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the federal prosecutors claimed.
Why was Vikash Yadav arrested?
The IE reported that on December 18, 2023, the Delhi Police Special Cell arrested Vikash Yadav following an FIR lodged by a Rohini resident, accusing him of extortion and kidnapping, and alleging his links to gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.
The complainant, a Rohini resident, stated that he previously ran an IT company and had built connections with several Indians residing in West Asia, the report added.
“In November last year, one of my friends introduced me to Yadav as a senior government official and we exchanged numbers. We became good friends, but never spoke about business since he was a government official. However, he had always shown curiosity about my friends, who are based abroad, and also enquired about how I do money transactions with them,” the daily quoted the complainant as saying.
“In his disclosure, Yadav told the police that his father was working with the Border Security Force, and he died in 2007. Yadav got married in 2015. He met (the complainant) at a social gathering and decided to make money after kidnapping him. His associate, who works as a car dealer, told the police that he was facing financial losses in his business and decided to join his (Yadav’s) plan,” a senior police officer told the IE who cited the charge sheet.
The complainant told the newspaper on Friday that he had approached the police on December 17 last year after being kidnapped by Vikash Yadav and his accomplice.
