On the one hand, the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar has created growing tensions with Canada. On the other hand, an Indian team has traveled to the US to investigate allegations of conspiracy to murder Khalistani terrorist Gulpatwant Singh Pannu. Last year, it was alleged that Indian agents conspired to murder Pannu. The United States is investigating this. For this purpose, the Indian team arrived in Washington on October 15.
“We are pleased with India’s cooperation in the investigation,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Thursday after the Indian team arrived in Washington.
Matthew Miller told the press conference that the meeting with the Indian team was good. They told us the people named in the Justice Department indictment are no longer employees of the Indian government. We are satisfied with their cooperation. We will continue to work with them. Just as we provide them with updates on our investigation, we appreciate that they provide us with updates on their investigation.
Previously, the United States had said that India had informed that it was investigating the links related to the former government employee and would take all possible actions.
What happened to the conspiracy to murder Pannu?
In fact, in November last year, the British “Financial Times” claimed in a report that a plot to assassinate Pannu was brewing in the United States, but was ultimately foiled. Pannu is a US citizen and India has declared him a terrorist.
Since then, the U.S. Department of Justice has also filed a lawsuit in the New York District Court on this matter. In the case, an Indian citizen named Nikhil Gupta and an unidentified Indian government official were accused of planning to murder Pannu. Nikhil Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic last June and extradited to the United States this year. Nikhil Gupta is currently imprisoned in a US prison.
According to the indictment, Gupta was hired by an Indian government official to murder Pannu. Gupta hired a hitman for the murder, but he was actually an intelligence agent for the U.S. government. Considering that the intelligence officer was a hit man, he was given a contract worth $100,000 (Rs 83 lakh) to kill the “target”. Manhattan also gave him an advance of $15,000.
What has India done so far?
Last year, when the United States accused India of plotting to murder Pannu, it set up a high-level committee to investigate. The committee’s investigative report stated that those who planned Pannu’s murder had nothing to do with the Indian government.
Who is this Pannu?
Gurpatwant Singh Pannu. Born in Punjab. My studies also started here. Currently abroad. He lives sometimes in Canada and sometimes in the United States. He holds citizenship from both countries. Threats of terrorist attacks against India from outside.
According to Indian archives, after the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, Pannu’s family came to Hamkot village in Amritsar from Pakistan. Pannu was born on February 14, 1967. Pannu’s father works in a company in Punjab. He also has a brother who lives abroad. Both his parents are deceased.
Pannu studied law at Panjab University, Chandigarh. He currently practices in the United States. Pannu founded Sikh Justice in 2007. In July 2020, India declared Pannu a terrorist. Pannu carried out the Khalistan campaign with the help of the ISI.
The archives reveal that Pannu not only aspired to create Khalistan but also Urdustan. Pannu wanted to create many countries by dividing India into different parts. He wanted to create division on a religious basis. Pannu wanted to attract Muslims and create a Muslim state, which he wanted to name “Democratic Republic of Urdustan”. Apart from this, he is provoking the people of Kashmir to separate Kashmir from India.
Pannu is the head of the Sikhs for Justice and is a wanted terrorist in India. There are 16 cases against him across the country. The cases relate to the Khalistan movement in Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand.
