LIC warns policyholders against unofficial policy takeovers

New Delhi, June 26: The United States has consistently pressed India for updates on India’s investigation into an alleged foiled plot to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and made clear it demands accountability in the case, a senior official said on Wednesday Biden administration official.

US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the US had raised the issue directly with the highest levels of the Indian government.

Campbell made his remarks during a virtual news conference on his visit to India last week with U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

“We have had a constructive dialogue with India on this issue and I would say they have responded to our concerns,” he said.

“We have made it clear that we demand accountability from the Government of India and have consistently requested updates on the Indian Commission of Inquiry’s investigations,” the senior official said.

“I would simply like to say that we have raised this issue directly with the Government of India… at the highest levels on both sides,” he said.

Campbell was responding to a question about whether the “murder-for-hire” against Pannun had been discussed during the meetings he and Sullivan had with their Indian counterparts.

Last November, US federal prosecutors charged Indian citizen Nikhil Gupta with working with an Indian government employee in a foiled plot to kill Pannun in New York.

Pannun, wanted in India on terrorism charges, is a dual US-Canadian citizen.

Gupta, who was arrested in the Czech Republic in June last year, was extradited to the United States on June 14.

Following the allegations made by the US, India set up a high-level commission of inquiry to probe information provided by the US on the conspiracy.

In April, The Washington Post named an Indian official suspected of plotting to murder Pannun on American soil.

Asked about reports suggesting that any rogue entities were behind the plot, Campbell did not respond directly, but said that further information on the matter would most likely be obtained through law enforcement.

“I don’t really have anything else to add other than what I’ve already said. “I will say that we also believe that Indian colleagues are looking closely at what potential institutional reforms may be necessary,” he said.

“Following some of these allegations and reports that you have described, it appears that discussions between the United States and India are ongoing, and I believe that further findings will likely be communicated through law enforcement channels,” the US deputy secretary of state said.

Following Gupta’s extradition, US Attorney General Merrick Garland stated that he “makes clear that the Department of Justice will not tolerate attempts to silence or harm American citizens.”

“Nikhil Gupta will now face trial in the US for his role in an alleged conspiracy, led by an Indian government employee, to kill a US citizen over his support for the Sikh separatist movement in India,” he said.

The indictment filed by US prosecutors in federal court in New York alleged that an Indian government employee, identified as “CC-1”, directed Gupta to organize Pannun’s murder.

Prosecutors maintain that Gupta hired a hitman to kill Pannun and paid $15,000 in advance.

Gupta, through his lawyer, denied the allegations and said he had been “unfairly accused.”