US court summons Indian government in connection with conspiracy to kill Pannu

New Delhi: The US court has issued summons to the Indian government and top officials in connection with the attempt to kill Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu. The Center has reacted sharply to this, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said in a statement that as we have said earlier, these are completely unfair and baseless allegations. Now that this particular case has been registered, our views on this will not change. I just want to draw your attention to the person behind this case, whose history is well known.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that I would also like to put forward the fact that the organization led by this person (Pannu) is an illegal organization, which has been banned under UAPA. This step has been taken because this organization is involved in anti-national and subversive activities. The Court of the Southern District of New York has summoned the Government of India, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, former RAW Chief Samant Goel. Nikhil Gupta and Vikram Yadav, accused in the murder case, have also been summoned.

Nikhil Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic last year at the request of the US government for his involvement in the conspiracy to kill Pannu in New York, he was extradited to the US from the Czech Republic in June this year. In April 2024, The Washington Post had named Vikram Yadav, an officer of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), as involved in the conspiracy, the report also mentioned that then RAW chief Samant Goel had approved the operation. However, the Center rejected the report, saying that the claim that Indian agents were involved in the conspiracy to kill Pannu is completely unfair and baseless.

Let us tell you that Gurpatwant Singh Pannu has dual citizenship of the US and Canada and is wanted in India on charges of terrorism. Pannu serves as the head of the Khalistani organization Sikh for Justice (SFJ). Pro-Khalistan Pannu is a lawyer by profession and has been a key organiser of referendums demanding a separate Sikh homeland Khalistan. These referendums have been held in countries with large Indian diasporas such as Canada, Britain and Australia.

Pannu originally hails from Nathu Chak village in Punjab, received his early education from Ludhiana and later settled in Khankot near Amritsar. Pannu’s father Mahinder Singh was the secretary of the Punjab Marketing Board. He is believed to have graduated from Punjab University in the 1990s. He became active in politics since his college days. After this, he went abroad. There he worked as a cab driver for a few years in the beginning. Later he started practicing law. In 2007, he founded SFJ and became a staunch supporter of Khalistan.